For each fraud charge, violators can be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison and fined.
Singapore:
An Indian-Singaporean was sentenced on Monday to seven years and four months in prison for defrauding 20 people of S$2.5 million (US$1.8 million).
Murali Krishnan Naidu was convicted of 17 counts of fraud involving nine people between 2008 and 2013, involving a total of S$2.5 million.
Another 43 charges, including those relating to the remaining victims, were also considered during sentencing, but Mr Naidu did not make restitution, the Straits Times reported.
The 53-year-old Singaporean defrauded 20 people, including family friends and acquaintances, of approximately S$2.5 million in investment fraud between 2008 and 2013.
He tricked most of his victims, who were withdrawing “investment” funds from their retirement savings, into thinking the money would be invested in a lending business set up by his wife.
According to prosecutors, Mr Naidu’s wife set up a licensed moneylending company in Singapore in August 2006, known as Sun Tea Credit (STC), and that while Mr Naidu was its manager in Singapore, she He was a sole proprietor.
Prior to the establishment of STC, Mr. Naidu worked for another money lending company known as Diamond Credit from 2003 to 2006 and is familiar with how such companies finance their money lending operations. was doing.
Deputy Public Prosecutors (DP) Jordon Lee and Yeo Xuan said Mr Naidu knew that it was common for money lending companies to borrow cash from investors through investment contracts.
They will then lend this money to their customers.
Companies end up paying investors interest on the amount they borrow, which is lower than the interest they charge on the loan.
Prosecutors alleged that Naidu falsely represented that the victims’ funds would be invested in STC’s lending business.
He typically promised victims a monthly return of 2.5% to 3%, as well as repaying the invested funds one year from the date of the investment contract.
Naidu then induced the victims to hand over the money, but in early 2013 he stopped paying dividends to the victims completely.
To date, it is unclear how he used the victims’ money, prosecutors said.
An examination by the Registrar of Money Lenders found that STC had not entered into any money lending transactions between 2011 and 2013.
“Despite STC not carrying out any business activities, the defendant continued to pay the fees required to renew STC’s moneylending license with the Moneylenders Registration Authority,” the deputy public prosecutor said in court.
“This strengthens the defendant’s argument that STC is a legitimate and viable moneylending business.” The Singapore Daily reported that court documents do not reveal what happened to STC since 2013. is not listed.
Naidu was charged in court in 2019, although court documents do not reveal how the crime was discovered.
The deputy prosecutor had asked the court to sentence him to at least seven years and 10 months in prison.
“Although the defendant alleges that he paid a portion of the ‘investment income’ to the victim, the existence of such payments should be given minimal mitigating weight,” DPS said in a broadsheet. Ta.
“The returns were paid to give a false appearance of legitimacy to the system and to encourage investors to continue pooling their money into the system.” His crimes also showed a high level of planning. He also said it was well planned.
For each fraud charge, violators can be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison and fined.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)