500 years in jail for Dubai forex fraudsters; lawyer lauds convictions in $200 million ponzi scheme

Image Credit: SuppliedThe office premises of Exential.

Exential forex fraudsters get 500 years each in prison for elaborate Ponzi scheme; lawyer said sentence sends ‘very strong message’ that Dubai is not taking financial crimes lightly

Dubai: Victims lauded the sentence of 500 years in jail handed down by a judge here on two scammers behind an elaborate scheme that siphoned off hundreds of millions of dollars from hapless investors in a sham foreign exchange trading system.

Many victims still do hope to collect at least part of their money following the criminal conviction in Dubai.

On Sunday, a Dubai court sentenced the scammers — Sydney Lemos and Ryan Fernandez of Exential — to 500 years in jail, representing one year in prison for each of the more than 500 victims that fell into their financial honeytrap.

“These guys messed up my family and my future,” said JE, a Dubai computer specialist who invested Dh150,000 in the forex trading “platform” established by UAE-based Exential which went belly up after the deceptive scheme was exposed.

“Of course, I’m still hoping to get some, if not all, of my money,” another victim who asked not to be named told Gulf News. He had invested $400,000 in 16 Exential “accounts” amounting to $25,000 each. “That’s my hard-earned money.”

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The victims had been promised fantastic returns of 120 per cent, but ended up losing their retirement and life savings. Many like JE, took out bank loans which they are still paying.

Another victim, cancer-stricken Filipino John Paul Juanatas, 31, died in January last year, unable to get the right treatment after losing his hard-earned money to the fraudsters.

Meanwhile, a UAE lawyer representing a group of victims said a Dubai court sentencing of 500 years imprisonment for the two men behind the scam may help recover some of his clients’ money.

Atty Barney Almazar, Director of Gulf Law, is working with the Filipino Embassy to assist victims of the financial crimes for which Lemos and Fernandez were convicted.

Almazar is the legal advocate of a number of Filipinos who invested in Exential.

Many victims, including a group of 90 people, lost their retirement and life savings, others took out loans to be able to invest.

“The court decision of more than 500 years imprisonment sends a very strong message to the public that Dubai is not taking financial crimes lightly,” Almazar, Gulf News on Tuesday.

Many of the victims were also airline crew working for Emirates airline.

“This judgment can be used to support the victims’ civil claims and efforts in locating the assets of the company. The decision will be acceptable in foreign jurisdictions. In any criminal act, the fruits of the crime are considered and illegal and will be forfeited.

“The victims moved a step further to reach their objective to collect their investments. Of course there is a process and this is not a guarantee,” Almazar said.

Exential disguised a Ponzi scheme as a legitimate foreign currency trading programme, offering up to 120 per cent annual returns on investments before their office was shut down by the Dubai Economic Department (DED) in July 2016.

Earlier reports said around 7,000 UAE residents lost their life’s savings in the scam.

Source:gulfnews.com/news