Ponzi Scheme TadawulME / Exential Group:

[nikel7]

Bingo is trying to dissuade people from filing cases and also seems to thing Sydney should be free. I can think of reasons for this:

1. Bingo really is gullible enough to think freeing Sydney will somehow result in the magical flow of impossible profits returning.
2. Bingo knows its a scam, but hopes the money faucet will sputter back to life for a few more months and doesn't care that this might result in more victims being scammed.
3. Bingo has already filed a complaint and is hoping to get a bigger cut of the pie by discouraging others.
4. Bingo is paid to post here by someone who wants Sydney to get away with is crimes.

As for Bingo's repeated questions about "Is there money", let's look at two version of the "Sydney put all the money in a pile and burned it" scenario:

1. Only a few victims come forward for the trial. The judge assumes these are the only ones who suffered serious financial damage and Sydney gets a light sentence.
2. Everyone ignores Bingo and files. The judge sees that thousands of people have files. Sydney gets a very large set of consecutive sentences and won't be free for a few hundred years.

The truth is that no one on the outside knows about cash and assets which may be recoverable. Keeping Sydney and as many other senior people from this scam in jail is one of the best ways to keep the money from being hidden more deeply. It also increases the chances of one or more if Sydney's associates decided to divulge details about where the money went in exchange for a longer sentence.

And again, since Bingo keeps wanting this to be buried nice and deep, I'll repost it once more:

Apps79 said:
Copy and paste from the whatsapp group today;

Copy from fb
Very helpful info,,,,
Dani and I would like to share with you our today’s experience at the Al Barsha Police station. Major Majed Al Suwaidi promptly and nicely welcomed us at his office, where we have spoken about Exential Group and Sydney Lemos situation. Major Al Suwaidi confirmed that Sydney Lemos is under custody in that police station and he is going nowhere. It was mentioned that Sydeney Lemos has intentions to settle agreements with the clients. No further details such as time-frame or amount was given or known.
We have asked Major Al Suwaidi how to file a complain against Exential Group and Sydney Lemos. It was explained to us the following procedure:
- No complaint can be raised at the Al Barsha Police Station
- A formal complaint should be filed at Public Prosecution (close to Dubai Courts and Deira City Center), in a document in Arabic (or officially translated to Arabic) stating the complaint with all necessary details and documents that proves your connection with Exential Group
- Once the complaint is raised, Public Prosecution will analyse it and forward to Dubai Police which will than contact you to give a formal statement or ask for further details
- Exential Group/Sydney Lemos will than be asked to give their statement.
- Once that is done other legal procedures will be carried on accordingly. You will know what to do by following further instructions given by the Police once you have completed the above procedures.

Major Al Swaidi is the one who gave an statement for Khaleej Times on January 9th. He encouraged all of us to spread this information, and encourage people victim of this situation to file their complaints. This is the only way to help Dubai Police to gather necessary information to be able to act.

I think you are right but I have also had a quick update from my lawyers about the legal process which I am undergoing since May 2016.

I have won the case against EG in Nov 2016. EG and its Associate companies like TadawulMe were notified and I had to wait 60 days for them to appeal. They never appealed. For each newspaper notification and/or any other notification sent from the Court to EG I had to pay around 300,00 USD everytime. As we are speaking, the lawyers are filing an execution file to the Court (cost is around 1,200 USD) and the judge is supposed to provide with a verdict. Hopefully it will positive and I shall have a final execution within the next 10 days. If this happens, EG has 15 days to provide me with my investments back if this doesn't happen the lawyers will request to the judge that an investigation of the assets is required. However, the judge has to be convinced by the lawyers that an investigation is foreseen (checking bank accounts, money transfers etc.) and this is a big IF. According to the lawyers as of today there are very few complaints that were lodged to the Court and this is apparently not enough to convince the judge to initiate an investigation.

In addition to this, the lawyers also told me that in the event an investigation is foreseen, there is a high chance that this process will be VERY long and that assets might not be traceable. Now my only concern is that I have now spent more than 15,000 USD for this legal process and all these extra fees that I was mentioning to you are supposed to be reimbursed by EG when they are going to declared guilty and a final execution has been decided. BUT, in the event there are no assets or funds left from EG I will be simply be in a situation in which I have definitely won the case, EG will be declared guilty, Sydney arrested but nobody will reimburse me back the funds.

This is the current scenario and I hope somebody who has filed a case with lawyers and are in my same situation can please explain to me if they are in the same situation or can tell me more.

 

[Rawad]

investigation has already started I believe. Investors who lodged complaints at the central bank or DED has received some emails to send them their details again with supporting documents to be used for courts.

 

[chicken.or.beef]

Forex scheme chief is arrested again

Nick Webster
Follow @NickWebsterADM
January 24, 2017

DUBAI // As the man behind a Dh50 million foreign exchange scheme that promised to double investors’ money is arrested for a second time, investigators are now turning their attention to a second forex fraud believed to have snared thousands of Emirates crew.

Sydney Lemos, who investors claim was the protagonist in the Exential operation run from Media City, has been rearrested and is in police custody, according to lawyers.

He is accused of leading a team of sellers promising 120 per cent returns on US$20,000 accounts invested in foreign currencies. The bogus Exential trading scheme was shut down by the Economic Development Department last year.

Private investigators at UK firm Carlton Huxley, who are working on behalf of 30 clients - most of whom Emirates cabin crew - claim a second fund offering similar returns could have more victims.

UTMarkets is a UK-run website with offices in Bulgaria offering investors the chance to trade Forex and other commodities.

"Our lead investigators have established that some people involved in Exential may also be connected with UTMarkets," said John Rynne, a director of Carlton Huxley.

"Carlton Huxley has been retained by a number of clients to look into the conduct of those involved in UTMarkets.

"We are working with the Bulgarian law firm New Balkan Law Office along with authorities in the UK and Bulgaria."

The UTMarkets website makes similar profit promises to those of Exential, which left thousands devastated by debt.

The site, which remains active, offers an "unparalleled mix of forex and commodities brokerage services that’s easy to use and completely secure".

Fraud investigators said the UTMarkets scheme developed quickly through recommendations among airline workers in late 2015 and early last year as Exential started to collapse.

"We have grounds to believe there are about 6,000 UTMarkets victims, 95 per cent of whom work for Emirates airline," said one of the UK investigators, who has visited Dubai several times to interview account holders of both schemes.

"We are keeping the legal department of Emirates informed and have identified people who appear to have been actively involved with Exential who are also involved in UTMarkets."

Several UTMarkets account managers were approached for comment, but none responded.

Asif, an Emirates ground crew employee from India who has been in Dubai for 11 years, borrowed about Dh110,000 to invest in UTMarkets in January 2016. He earns Dh15,000 a month.

He was paid about Dh7,000 a month for five months, but was encouraged to reinvest most of that by relationship managers working from an office in Sofia, Bulgaria.

"I had heard of Exential for years, but had not invested," he said.

"I was hoping to plan for my future with my wife, and heard Exential account holders were having problems, so invested with UTMarkets instead. They were offering almost twice as much in monthly returns.

"My friends and colleagues at Emirates persuaded me that UTMarkets was a better investment."

He claims many who lost out through Exential ploughed more money from loans and credit cards into the UTMarkets funds in an attempt to recover their initial deposits.

Asif, who took no financial advice before handing over the cash, said he is owed about Dh84,500 from UTMarkets and was kept informed by his relationship managers via a What’sApp group that is no longer posting.

"One of my friends has invested $30,000, another $50,000," he said.

"There are a lot of people in Dubai with big financial commitments to this. The conversation with UTMarkets stopped when they stopped paying out each month. The account managers have all now disappeared. It’s hard to know if the trading information they were giving us was real, or fake."

Carlton Huxley is planning a series of free to attend educational seminars later this year in Dubai to warn about the dangers of investing in similar schemes.

nwebster@thenational.ae

Source: Forex scheme chief is arrested again | The National

 

[Apps79]

I think you are right but I have also had a quick update from my lawyers about the legal process which I am undergoing since May 2016.

I have won the case against EG in Nov 2016. EG and its Associate companies like TadawulMe were notified and I had to wait 60 days for them to appeal. They never appealed. For each newspaper notification and/or any other notification sent from the Court to EG I had to pay around 300,00 USD everytime. As we are speaking, the lawyers are filing an execution file to the Court (cost is around 1,200 USD) and the judge is supposed to provide with a verdict. Hopefully it will positive and I shall have a final execution within the next 10 days. If this happens, EG has 15 days to provide me with my investments back if this doesn't happen the lawyers will request to the judge that an investigation of the assets is required. However, the judge has to be convinced by the lawyers that an investigation is foreseen (checking bank accounts, money transfers etc.) and this is a big IF. According to the lawyers as of today there are very few complaints that were lodged to the Court and this is apparently not enough to convince the judge to initiate an investigation.

In addition to this, the lawyers also told me that in the event an investigation is foreseen, there is a high chance that this process will be VERY long and that assets might not be traceable. Now my only concern is that I have now spent more than 15,000 USD for this legal process and all these extra fees that I was mentioning to you are supposed to be reimbursed by EG when they are going to declared guilty and a final execution has been decided. BUT, in the event there are no assets or funds left from EG I will be simply be in a situation in which I have definitely won the case, EG will be declared guilty, Sydney arrested but nobody will reimburse me back the funds.

This is the current scenario and I hope somebody who has filed a case with lawyers and are in my same situation can please explain to me if they are in the same situation or can tell me more.

Fortune favors the brave Nikel7. I commend you for following through and I am barracking for your success. Your brave actions will make it easier for others to follow. Even if you only get back your costs and it takes a year I am sure you will think it was worth it. The EG crooks need to be hung high and made an example of. The more who push, the more they will be punished, the less likely the next scum bag will be likely to try do a similar scheme.

 

[Pharaoh]

Hi!
Where can he check about this Power of attorney?
I will surly let him know and hopefully i will file my case this way.
Kindly reply.
Many thanks

Have your friend check what is needed in a case like this at the Public Prosecution office. That's where the complaint is supposed to be filed, so they should know exactly what is needed.

 

[Bingo]

What's happening to nikel7 is exactly what happened to me with real estate developer. I haven't received any money and that was almost a decade ago.

I don't trust EG. I think they haven't handled this situation well. There a lot of untruths.
But trusting a lawyer is not a good move either. You won't get your money back faster by using the law.

 

[SilentSpectator]

You won't get your money back faster by using the law.

I'd really love to borrow money from this guy.

In a country without hired-guns or gangs that can help you get your money back from people who don't want to pay you back, your only decent chance is to go by the law. Even the biggest banks and credit institutions know and follow this principle.

If you don't trust the law to deliver you justice, i don't know what else you can trust. Vigilante-ism?

 

[Rejay2714]

I think you are right but I have also had a quick update from my lawyers about the legal process which I am undergoing since May 2016.

I have won the case against EG in Nov 2016. EG and its Associate companies like TadawulMe were notified and I had to wait 60 days for them to appeal. They never appealed. For each newspaper notification and/or any other notification sent from the Court to EG I had to pay around 300,00 USD everytime. As we are speaking, the lawyers are filing an execution file to the Court (cost is around 1,200 USD) and the judge is supposed to provide with a verdict. Hopefully it will positive and I shall have a final execution within the next 10 days. If this happens, EG has 15 days to provide me with my investments back if this doesn't happen the lawyers will request to the judge that an investigation of the assets is required. However, the judge has to be convinced by the lawyers that an investigation is foreseen (checking bank accounts, money transfers etc.) and this is a big IF. According to the lawyers as of today there are very few complaints that were lodged to the Court and this is apparently not enough to convince the judge to initiate an investigation.

In addition to this, the lawyers also told me that in the event an investigation is foreseen, there is a high chance that this process will be VERY long and that assets might not be traceable. Now my only concern is that I have now spent more than 15,000 USD for this legal process and all these extra fees that I was mentioning to you are supposed to be reimbursed by EG when they are going to declared guilty and a final execution has been decided. BUT, in the event there are no assets or funds left from EG I will be simply be in a situation in which I have definitely won the case, EG will be declared guilty, Sydney arrested but nobody will reimburse me back the funds.

This is the current scenario and I hope somebody who has filed a case with lawyers and are in my same situation can please explain to me if they are in the same situation or can tell me more.

Dear Nike17,

I guess your lawyers are misguiding you completely.
for every notification from the court to exential it only costs 250 AED.
If you want i have all the receipts for the newspaper notifications.
I also won the case in november and have filed for execution yesterday.

I am fighting my case by myself and havent appointed any lawyers.
Do let me know if you need any more assistance but i strongly say that your lawyers are misguiding you.
Be positive...

 

[Unan82]

Dear Nike17,

I am fighting my case by myself and havent appointed any lawyers.
Do let me know if you need any more assistance but i strongly say that your lawyers are misguiding you.
Be positive...

Hey Nike and Rejay,

Thank you for sharing your whole experience.
I just went through this whole thread.. it took me 2 days.. I've already e-mailed DED and Media City. I'll be heading to the police tomorrow. Any other advice?
I really must thank you all, especially, Pharaoh for the endless fight he'd put out for the whole year in this thread... I'm totally uneducated when it comes to trading and although it was a shame I've found FPA too late, I definitely learned something with you guys. Thank you for that.

Good luck to everyone who's fighting them! It's funny that the RM I've been in contact with, still replies to me saying that the office will open soon..

 

[Rejay2714]

Unan 82,

There is no use of going to DED..it will not help..you will just spend 2020 aed and you will not get any solution as DED has already done what they were supposed to..
Just go to Dubai court and file the case..that's the first stage of your case..you don't need to appoint any lawyer for that..even the court fees which are 6.5 percent of whatever you are claiming can be paid later.you need to ask them for the application for this which will go the panel of judges and judges will approve this application which gives you the option to pay your court fees after the execution.
One more thing which I have realized that FCI market is also involved in this fraud as I have emailed them the details of the payment which I have received from FCI markets still they are saying that I don't have any account with them..I asked them that if I don't have any account then how did they transfer my profits to me ...then there was no reply from them which means they are hiding the truth and also involved in this mess....