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bargain hunter
18-04-12, 08:30
Published April 18, 2012

How even the savviest get conned

Slick operators abound, building trust with their smooth ways. An Indonesian businessman tells TEH HOOI LING how he and his son were taken for a ride here



HE IS an Indonesian businessman who started in the timber business before eventually venturing into real estate development. In the very unforgiving world of business, he has been savvy enough to suss out projects which are worth investing in and people who are trustworthy. He has survived and thrived for 40 years.

About three years ago, he decided to have a slower pace of life and let his eldest son take the driver's seat in his business. He moved to Singapore and invested some money in real estate here.

It was here that he got to know a young banker in a local bank who had serviced him in his mortgage loans. One fateful night, this young banker called and arranged dinner, saying he'd like to introduce the Indonesian businessman, let's call him Mr IB, to a "fund manager".

That was in March 2010. The young banker said he had recommended a few of his clients to the "fund manager", and they had all made good returns by putting their money with her. The "fund manager" told Mr IB that she was with an asset management firm and was personally able to get access to shares of hot initial public offerings that her clients would be able to sell upon listing for almost certain profits.

That the "fund manager" was introduced by the banker lent credibility to her and her "business". Said Mr IB in Mandarin: "She appeared experienced, professional and confident. And she looked honest."
A day or two after that dinner meeting, the young banker called to say that there was an IPO which was closing the following day, and that the "fund manager" had some shares that her clients could subscribe to.
"The thing is, they didn't give us a lot of time to think about it. They called and said they'd come and pick up the cheque within half an hour," said Mr IB.

The first cheque Mr IB handed over was for $460,000. The cheque was picked up by the young banker. Within two weeks, Mr IB got back that entire sum, plus an 8 per cent return.

Mr IB got his 30-year-old son to invest with the "fund manager" as well.

Cheque bounced

Over the next few months, there were many such calls, and the sum demanded grew over time. The young banker acted as the liaison for the "fund manager", and did extensive emails and calls on her behalf.

Mr IB said: "Sometimes, I'd get three calls in a week from the banker. Once, I had to go to Gleneagles for my heart check-up. The 'fund manager' came to meet me at the cafe of the hospital to pick up the cheque from me. Always, there was a time pressure element. We were asked to hand over the cheque on short notice." And many of the cheques were written out in the "fund manager's" name.

For the first few transactions, the "fund manager" paid back the capital and investment returns promptly. But by about September that year, Mr IB said the "fund manager" started to give excuses in delaying repayment of the capital. And when she did write out cheques, some would bounce.

Mr IB also asked for the statement of all the stocks and shares he had supposedly invested in. But the "fund manager" couldn't produce such a statement.

Both father and son have more than 20 bounced cheques to date, and have since found out that the originating bank accounts have been closed.

After numerous failed attempts to get back their money, Mr IB and his son decided to report the case to the police and commenced legal action against the "fund manager" in the hope of recovering their money.

Last April, Mr IB sued the fund manager for $4.55 million, and his son filed his claim for $1.2 million in November. These are the outstanding amounts claimed. The actual amount transferred to her, allege the father and son, is way more.

After they started legal proceedings, they found out there were others in the same boat. Including theirs, there were a total of 17 suits filed against the "fund manager". Some of the suits were withdrawn, and refiled again after she promised but then failed yet again to repay the amounts owed.

Since then, three of the plaintiffs have obtained judgements against her: one for a claim amount of $3.57 million, another for $4.73 million, and yet another for $5.34 million.

Mr IB and his son have incurred substantial legal costs in pursuing their claims against the "fund manager".

The son, who used to work in the financial sector in the US, said: "All these are before we even go to trial. If we go to trial, it's going to cost my father another $300,000 to $500,000." And there is no guarantee that the plaintiffs will get any of the claimed amount back.

In the meantime, while the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) is investigating the business dealings of the "fund manager", she is free to dispose of her personal assets including real estate and move her funds around. And there is nothing stopping her from continuing to take money from new clients, he noted.

False testimonies
A civil case is prohibitively expensive to pursue, and there is no guarantee that it will be a worthwhile exercise, he said. The "fund manager" is fighting the civil suits against her, and is incurring huge legal costs as well. "She's using our money to fight against us," opined the son.

"From my experience of the whole episode, I felt that there are just not enough sanctions against people who gave false testimonies and people who commit white-collar crimes in Singapore," he said.

When asked to crunch down into one sentence the main lesson learnt from the entire episode, he pondered over it for some 10 minutes and said: "It's easy to brush it off as greed. But there were a lot of elements involved. It's the trust established because of the introduction by an officer from an established bank in Singapore. It's also the time pressure tactic and the tactic of gaining your trust in the first few transactions."

His elder brother, who avoided any loss by virtue of the fact that he wasn't in Singapore at the time, made a salient observation.
"It's probably because we are in Singapore that you let your guard down. Singapore has the reputation of being a well-regulated financial centre. So you were lulled into this sense of safety. If we were in Indonesia, we would have our eyes wide open.

"It's just like driving in Singapore. It's so easy to drive here; you just look straight. In Indonesia, you have to keep a look-out in all directions."

bargain hunter
18-04-12, 08:33
what was this about singapore being a world class financial centre? :doh:

Ricade
18-04-12, 08:47
and what about the young banker who introduced them to the asset manager, what is his role in all of this?

skali he is the bf / sibling of the asset manager and absconded together..

geez!!

DKSG
18-04-12, 08:57
We should strengthen our laws and regulations for such white collar crimes to maintain our reputation as a top-notch financial hub.

A mandatory life sentence with no chance of early release should be meted on the "fund manager" or anyone who cheats others for more than $100,000 (or more, adjust for inflation).

The young RM should also be sentenced to at least 24 years jail time for his role in abetting such crimes.

Maybe I should send this to CAD or Ministry of Home Affairs or who ??

DKSG

roly8
18-04-12, 09:07
greed has no boundary ..

aowtab
18-04-12, 09:22
greed has no boundary ..


well said...it's all about greed...Mr. IB didnt complained when he received all the interest/profits....anything more than the deposit (mind you there's risk there too albiet minimal) rate, will be proportionate to the risk factor.

hopeful
18-04-12, 09:23
what was this about singapore being a world class financial centre? :doh:

but...but...is it illegal to be
1) stupid
2) greedy
3) stupid and greedy ???

august
18-04-12, 09:44
what was this about singapore being a world class financial centre? :doh:

world class also means world class cons...

azeoprop
18-04-12, 10:15
"About three years ago, he decided to have a slower pace of life and let his eldest son take the driver's seat in his business. He moved to Singapore and invested some money in real estate here."

Want to retire liao still so greedy.... :tsk-tsk:

Lovelle
18-04-12, 10:16
Sinki version of Madoff...

Rosegarden
18-04-12, 11:07
The biggest winner is Ms Fund Manager. She is smart not to run away with the money but stayed to fight it out, using the victims' money to employ big gun lawyers. let's see, 17 victims each 1.5-5M conned, estimate $50M total! Spend 2-3M fighting the case dragging it out for years, while investing the rest. Even if she had to pay back most or ALL of the $50M, still got profit!

These are the super smart con jobs.

amk
18-04-12, 11:40
I dun share some of the members' disdain on the victims.
It's a very clear cut case of cheat and fraud.
This has nothing to do with greed. In private banking business, it is entirely NORMAL to have exclusive access to new issues and hence profit from it. note the new issues can be shares, bonds, funds, other products etc.

What is really disturbing is, how can the cheat's asset not be frozen pending investigation ? With so many suits against her already filed. This is very bad for Singapore's reputation as a financial center. The regulator must step in and use administrative rulings to plug whatever legal loopholes being exploited !

This reminds me of the Lehman cases. The HKMA negotiated a much better deal than the MAS :cool: And HK's financial market is more than 10 times bigger than SG.

hopeful
18-04-12, 11:50
I dun share some of the members' disdain on the victims.
It's a very clear cut case of cheat and fraud.
This has nothing to do with greed. In private banking business, it is entirely NORMAL to have exclusive access to new issues and hence profit from it. note the new issues can be shares, bonds, funds, other products etc.

What is really disturbing is, how can the cheat's asset not be frozen pending investigation ? With so many suits against her already filed. This is very bad for Singapore's reputation as a financial center. The regulator must step in and use administrative rulings to plug whatever legal loopholes being exploited !

This reminds me of the Lehman cases. The HKMA negotiated a much better deal than the MAS :cool: And HK's financial market is more than 10 times bigger than SG.
+1.
Doesn't Singapore like to issue Mareva injunctions?
anyway, if I was a victim, I would say that fund manager by name and say she is a cheat in public and invite libel suit from her.

hopeful
18-04-12, 11:55
Published April 18, 2012

How even the savviest get conned

...............
"It's just like driving in Singapore. It's so easy to drive here; you just look straight. In Indonesia, you have to keep a look-out in all directions."
The person BS.
In Indonesia, driving is easy. just look straight. why?
Because the car who hit the car in front is always wrong, no matter what the front car does.

buttercarp
18-04-12, 12:33
Actually i can't believe that the Mr IB who has been a successful businessman can be so gullible. Whether in Singapore or Indonesia, or any where in the world, we have to be careful. Low crime does not mean no crime.

So maybe there is more to it.

carbuncle
18-04-12, 13:12
The biggest winner is Ms Fund Manager. She is smart not to run away with the money but stayed to fight it out, using the victims' money to employ big gun lawyers. let's see, 17 victims each 1.5-5M conned, estimate $50M total! Spend 2-3M fighting the case dragging it out for years, while investing the rest. Even if she had to pay back most or ALL of the $50M, still got profit!

These are the super smart con jobs.

she bought 30 of the 125 SH units sold. u didnt know meh?

buttercarp
18-04-12, 13:27
she bought 30 of the 125 SH units sold. u didnt know meh?
How you know?
R u her kar kia ?

chiaberry
18-04-12, 13:58
Actually i can't believe that the Mr IB who has been a successful businessman can be so gullible. Whether in Singapore or Indonesia, or any where in the world, we have to be careful. Low crime does not mean no crime.

So maybe there is more to it.

There should be more to it. The story will not be so simple.

Rosegarden
18-04-12, 14:23
she bought 30 of the 125 SH units sold. u didnt know meh?


:scared-1:

what's the moral of the story? behind every con there is an even bigger con?

:D:D:D

carbuncle
18-04-12, 16:56
:scared-1:

what's the moral of the story? behind every con there is an even bigger con?

:D:D:D
Ya la. Me the tiny con-sultant who pulled a fast one on all... Lol

blackjack21trader
18-04-12, 18:46
Actually i can't believe that the Mr IB who has been a successful businessman can be so gullible. Whether in Singapore or Indonesia, or any where in the world, we have to be careful. Low crime does not mean no crime.

So maybe there is more to it.

In Singapore, the MAS rule is the hardcopy of the financial instrument must be sent every month to the investor. Also, no personal named payee cheque will ever be allowed by any licensed financial company here.

.....:doh:

zzz1
19-04-12, 12:52
Published April 18, 2012

How even the savviest get conned

Mr IB said: "Sometimes, I'd get three calls in a week from the banker. Once, I had to go to Gleneagles for my heart check-up. The 'fund manager' came to meet me at the cafe of the hospital to pick up the cheque from me. Always, there was a time pressure element. We were asked to hand over the cheque on short notice." And many of the cheques were written out in the "fund manager's" name.

."

for me, anything with time pressing decision, i wil surely give a miss delibrately..
Personnal i don bend to pressure to purchases or investment, as we should be respected by giving us sufficent time to decide.