07-07-2012, 10:24 AM
The usual nonsense - promising US$1,000 for every US$100 invested within 6 months is a 2,000% return per annum! Is it really so easy to con people with such ridiculous numbers?
The Straits Times
Jul 7, 2012
Couple charged in $562k cheating case
Duo behind Billionaires Management Worldwide allegedly conned 12 people
By K C Vijayan
A COUPLE allegedly promised 11 people a return of US$1,000 within six months for US$100 invested.
They also persuaded an author to do a business deal with them.
On Tuesday, Thomas Subramanian, 57, and his wife Hameedah Bee Abdul Jafaar, 44, were charged in court with cheating the 12 people of some $562,000 in all.
Their case was ordered to be brought up again in three weeks. They were remanded in custody after failing to post $60,000 bail.
The couple ran a firm called Billionaires Management Worldwide (BMW).
The 11 investors had put in money totalling $37,597, ranging from $330 to $16,500, between August 2007 and January 2008, according to the charge documents.
The couple are further accused of cheating author Elisabeth Maria Everada by persuading her to enter into a business deal with BMW that induced her to deliver $524,768 to the company in the five weeks from December 2007.
The deal allegedly involved planning a business strategy for her book and arranging an investment plan that would give her a fixed monthly income of 3 per cent over three years.
Ms Everada, 66, a Hong Kong-based resident of Dutch origin, had hired the company to train her to market her book on yoga.
She had also given the firm $500,000 of her retirement savings for investment.
She sued them for breach of contract two years ago and the High Court ordered the money to be returned to her.
In judgment grounds issued then, Justice Quentin Loh criticised the couple for their 'profligate behaviour'.
He noted that they had, among other things, used $24,390 of their client's funds to pay for 'five nights in the world's only seven-star and notoriously expensive Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai'.
Justice Loh found the couple had looked into the Dutch woman's means and 'cold-bloodedly persuaded her to part with her money'.
He also ruled their claim that the 36-month project had collapsed because Ms Everada had pulled out prematurely to be 'a gross exaggeration and quite false'.
Thomas, also known as Muhd Iskandar Shah and an accountant by training, and his wife were insurance agents before they started BMW in 2007.
They publicised their online advertising portal, BMW-Admall, as the 'most profitable, risk-free business opportunity'.
The criminal charges followed a probe by the Commercial Affairs Department for more than two years following several complaints from alleged victims.
If convicted, they can be fined and jailed for up to seven years.
It was previously reported that the couple faced 13 lawsuits in the Subordinate Courts over a decade from 1999.
Hameedah was made a bankrupt last October.
It is understood Ms Everada is continuing with her efforts to redeem her losses from the couple, based on the 2010 High Court order.
vijayan@sph.com.sg
The Straits Times
Jul 7, 2012
Couple charged in $562k cheating case
Duo behind Billionaires Management Worldwide allegedly conned 12 people
By K C Vijayan
A COUPLE allegedly promised 11 people a return of US$1,000 within six months for US$100 invested.
They also persuaded an author to do a business deal with them.
On Tuesday, Thomas Subramanian, 57, and his wife Hameedah Bee Abdul Jafaar, 44, were charged in court with cheating the 12 people of some $562,000 in all.
Their case was ordered to be brought up again in three weeks. They were remanded in custody after failing to post $60,000 bail.
The couple ran a firm called Billionaires Management Worldwide (BMW).
The 11 investors had put in money totalling $37,597, ranging from $330 to $16,500, between August 2007 and January 2008, according to the charge documents.
The couple are further accused of cheating author Elisabeth Maria Everada by persuading her to enter into a business deal with BMW that induced her to deliver $524,768 to the company in the five weeks from December 2007.
The deal allegedly involved planning a business strategy for her book and arranging an investment plan that would give her a fixed monthly income of 3 per cent over three years.
Ms Everada, 66, a Hong Kong-based resident of Dutch origin, had hired the company to train her to market her book on yoga.
She had also given the firm $500,000 of her retirement savings for investment.
She sued them for breach of contract two years ago and the High Court ordered the money to be returned to her.
In judgment grounds issued then, Justice Quentin Loh criticised the couple for their 'profligate behaviour'.
He noted that they had, among other things, used $24,390 of their client's funds to pay for 'five nights in the world's only seven-star and notoriously expensive Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai'.
Justice Loh found the couple had looked into the Dutch woman's means and 'cold-bloodedly persuaded her to part with her money'.
He also ruled their claim that the 36-month project had collapsed because Ms Everada had pulled out prematurely to be 'a gross exaggeration and quite false'.
Thomas, also known as Muhd Iskandar Shah and an accountant by training, and his wife were insurance agents before they started BMW in 2007.
They publicised their online advertising portal, BMW-Admall, as the 'most profitable, risk-free business opportunity'.
The criminal charges followed a probe by the Commercial Affairs Department for more than two years following several complaints from alleged victims.
If convicted, they can be fined and jailed for up to seven years.
It was previously reported that the couple faced 13 lawsuits in the Subordinate Courts over a decade from 1999.
Hameedah was made a bankrupt last October.
It is understood Ms Everada is continuing with her efforts to redeem her losses from the couple, based on the 2010 High Court order.
vijayan@sph.com.sg
