Did anyone really get involved with this?
 

http://http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/crime/man-gets-40-years-in-prison-for-defrauding-property-investors-1.651729

I remember a few years back getting the promotional material in my my mailbox at work, looking at it, laughing at it and then tossing it into the recycling bin. Clearly there were several colleagues who didn't do the same. Wasn't one of the EK pilots vouching for the credibility of the scheme and its founders? What happened to him?

I'm not trying to play down what this guy has done to his investors but he gets 40 years for effectively writing bad cheques, while two young local hoons kill a guy with their maniac driving and get a few months.
Doesn't pay to be an expat in front of the courts in the Middle East!

40 years is very steep. I guess Emirati's must have been screwed because if he had just shafted expat's the punishment wouldn't have been anywhere near this.
Which investment company was it?

Gulf News
 

GN,
What are you hoping to achieve with this thread?

What does anyone on PPrune hope to achieve by posting any thread. The guy should rot in jail. Perhaps the next person might think twice before doing the same. Hopefully "investors" will learn not to be stoooopid.....

Can't say I feel sorry for anybody who fell for this kind of scam.
WTF did all those people expect? :ugh:

Modhesh asked: "GN, What are you hoping to achieve with this thread?"

Possibly he's demonstrating how greed triumphs over common sense?
Possibly he's demonstrating how "A fool and his money are soon parted"?

I mean, come on! "Give me 250k in cash, and I'll give you a cheque for that plus 30% due in 6 months"!
WTF were these guys thinking? If making money was that easy, even my gardener would be a millionaire!

SM

My gardener is a millionare
 

he has retired, and loves the outdoors, so gardens for people as his hobby.

as an aside my garage mechanic should be a milionare.

glf

Maybe!
 

Maybe Gulf news had good intension with this thread....However from the language used in his post may I suggest an alternative..

That he wanted to get a rise out the people that did invest.

He asks if anybody REALLY get involved in this?When line one of the article he posted a link to clearly states 43 Ek pilots involved.
He uses language like Laughing at the promo material etc.

That his post is no way helpful and all he is looking for is a reaction and gossip.

I hope I am wrong on all counts and he had nothing but good intensions.

P.s I didn't invest.

Modhesh http://washingtonbureau.typepad.com/...11/modhesh.jpg

You ask a valid question worthy of a reply. I had no sinister motive in raising this issue. Perhaps the language I used in the thread title was a bit dramatic however I think it reflects my dismay. My intention was not to further humiliate those who got involved with the scheme but rather to raise awareness and inspire some debate on the kind of thing that goes on here. Reading the article raised all sorts of questions as to why intelligent, educated, reasonably well paid individauls would get involved in a scheme such as this.

Is it greed? ignorance or are some so desperate to get out of EK that they are willing to take a gamble of this sort to speed them down the road of financial independence.

Believe me not every investment that I have made in my life has come out rosy but this one was not right from the start and hence went in the bin. Perhaps I am too conservative and thus will never be a multi milloinaire however I hope that by reading the article and contents of this thread others will think twice in the future when tempted by something that looks too good to be true.

Gulf News
 

GN.
Thank you for clearing that up.
I hope you achieve your aim.