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Any case for Legal pursue?

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Phoebe09
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Any case for Legal pursue?

Post by Phoebe09 » Wed, 14 Jan 2009 2:31 pm

I hope there are lawyers out there who might be able to give some advice as I'm not sure if my situation qualifies for legal pursue.

I came across a forum where this guy was "advertising" his service to invest in futures. As he just seemed to convincing on his capability, I then contacted him & opened a futures a/c (under my name). The verbal agreement was that he will take a 20% cut of the profit. But within 5 months, he lost all of my money (S$300k) & said he couldn't help me anymore. He then disappeared.

I am devastated & guess that I have no case to pursue since there is no written agreement & the a/c was under my name. But I would like to check if anyone on this forum who might be able to give any valuable advise if it is really true that I can only treat this as a very expensive lesson or if there's any avenue for me to pursue. Thanks.

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ksl
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Re: Any case for Legal pursue?

Post by ksl » Wed, 14 Jan 2009 3:48 pm

Phoebe09 wrote:I hope there are lawyers out there who might be able to give some advice as I'm not sure if my situation qualifies for legal pursue.

I came across a forum where this guy was "advertising" his service to invest in futures. As he just seemed to convincing on his capability, I then contacted him & opened a futures a/c (under my name). The verbal agreement was that he will take a 20% cut of the profit. But within 5 months, he lost all of my money (S$300k) & said he couldn't help me anymore. He then disappeared.

I am devastated & guess that I have no case to pursue since there is no written agreement & the a/c was under my name. But I would like to check if anyone on this forum who might be able to give any valuable advise if it is really true that I can only treat this as a very expensive lesson or if there's any avenue for me to pursue. Thanks.
:o Oh my God you have been conned! It's an expensive lesson I'm afraid :evil: There are some pretty suave people around, :roll: he could have been a lawyer, banker, or trader, trust no one, with your accounts, because they all want your money. This is a definite police investigation contact asap it may be a fraud problem! and he didn't loose your money, but stole it gradually, do you have a list of all the transactions?
Last edited by ksl on Wed, 14 Jan 2009 5:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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sierra2469alpha
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Post by sierra2469alpha » Wed, 14 Jan 2009 4:52 pm

That being said with my meagre knowledge of law, it does sound like fraud. Suggest you call the police and explain what has happened, and also ACRA.

Next time, be more careful. I don't mean to sound cruel, but I guess it will come across that way.

Good luck

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Post by DimWit Kid » Wed, 14 Jan 2009 6:20 pm

My my my... anybody can of course lodge a complaint, but the devil would be in details of proof. How can you proof it? I hope you do have some kind of record of your interaction with him. As they say, verbal contract is binding. But how to prove?

Caveat. Emptor. As Mr. P says, next time be more careful (although I still have hard time imagining somebody giving access to somebody else to a 300K account without precautions - sorry!)

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Post by Wind In My Hair » Thu, 15 Jan 2009 12:14 am

Oh dear Phoebe, sorry to hear that you lost so much.

If the account was for futures contracts, then a likely scenario is that he 'churned' it. Meaning, he just kept buying and selling in order to earn commissions on each trade, without actually taking any of your invested capital. This probably isn't illegal since he is entitled to commissions, unlike a case where he directly pocketed your money.

Even if he was an honest trader, the movement in futures is very fast and I have seen tens of thousands made and lost within minutes. It's a highly volatile market and lots of people get burned.

Since it's such a big amount, it might be worth your trouble to call CASE and MAS and see if there is any legal recourse, though I'm not very hopeful. Still, it's worth a try.

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Post by guruvishwanath » Thu, 15 Jan 2009 8:43 am

No legal recourse as far as I can tell. Sorry to hear about the loss!

Had a buddy in a similar situation. After blowing off his money, they actually sent him a legal notice to pay up some fee's which I thought was laughable until the notices started become more and more frequent and ominous! scum sucking leeches! He finally called his "broker" and wailed on him saying that he is going to cops to lodge a cheating complaint against him and his entire stinking company, if one more notice comes forth.

Whats the moral of the story? Get your money, convert to coins, load them into sacks and keep them buried in your backyard. If you dont have a backyard, then keep them somewhere safe. Once the value of currency becomes as much as the paper its printed on, you can melt your coins and sell it as scrap to barter for food and rent! :D

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Post by AngryAngMo » Thu, 15 Jan 2009 11:36 am

OMG! Im sorry to read about your loss, but i cant really understand how one, in these days especially, can give away 300K without any written agreement etc.

Did you do any beckground check on the person / his company? Have you filed a report yet? Keep us updated.

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Post by Phoebe09 » Thu, 15 Jan 2009 2:23 pm

Yes, I was that gullible & foolish that I did not really did background checks etc before deciding to have him trade for me. I just didn't know what to do with my savings then so when there was so much calibre that was written on his website, I foolishly believed he was honest & capable.

I have yet to file any report as I feel there's no valid case since the a/c was under my name & I took instructions from him (via SMS) to execute trades.

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Post by Strong Eagle » Thu, 15 Jan 2009 5:04 pm

Phoebe09 wrote:Yes, I was that gullible & foolish that I did not really did background checks etc before deciding to have him trade for me. I just didn't know what to do with my savings then so when there was so much calibre that was written on his website, I foolishly believed he was honest & capable.

I have yet to file any report as I feel there's no valid case since the a/c was under my name & I took instructions from him (via SMS) to execute trades.
Phoebe, You are talking about a lot of money and before I did anything (or not do anything) I would definitely get more experienced advice from an attorney.

I don' kmow about Singapore law but in the US there are limits as to what a trader can do with impunity. The law distinguishes between expert investors and novices in the way they can be treated.

Note that HSBC (or was it DBS) is having to review all of their sales of Lehman securities. Given the amount of money involved, I'd most certainly contact a qualified lawyer to see if you have any recourse at all.

And, don't kick yourself... you've made a mistake... and life will be OK. And think about this... a woman in Oregon gave more than $400,000 to the Nigerian 419 scammers even though she was warned by dozens of people what would happen.

You at least were looking for legitimate investment advice, and you were taken. An ethical investment advisor would have understood your level of experience and your risk tolerance, then explained your options. Sounds like none of that happened, so while maybe you didn't do your homework, you really have been scammed by an unscrupulous person.

Best of luck to you.

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Re: Any case for Legal pursue?

Post by TennoHekka » Sat, 17 Jan 2009 1:57 am

Phoebe09 wrote:I hope there are lawyers out there who might be able to give some advice as I'm not sure if my situation qualifies for legal pursue.

I came across a forum where this guy was "advertising" his service to invest in futures. As he just seemed to convincing on his capability, I then contacted him & opened a futures a/c (under my name). The verbal agreement was that he will take a 20% cut of the profit. But within 5 months, he lost all of my money (S$300k) & said he couldn't help me anymore. He then disappeared.

I am devastated & guess that I have no case to pursue since there is no written agreement & the a/c was under my name. But I would like to check if anyone on this forum who might be able to give any valuable advise if it is really true that I can only treat this as a very expensive lesson or if there's any avenue for me to pursue. Thanks.
Bucket shop...Call the cops...

twista88
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Re: Any case for Legal pursue?

Post by twista88 » Thu, 29 Jan 2009 9:22 pm

Phoebe09 wrote:I hope there are lawyers out there who might be able to give some advice as I'm not sure if my situation qualifies for legal pursue.

I came across a forum where this guy was "advertising" his service to invest in futures. As he just seemed to convincing on his capability, I then contacted him & opened a futures a/c (under my name). The verbal agreement was that he will take a 20% cut of the profit. But within 5 months, he lost all of my money (S$300k) & said he couldn't help me anymore. He then disappeared.

I am devastated & guess that I have no case to pursue since there is no written agreement & the a/c was under my name. But I would like to check if anyone on this forum who might be able to give any valuable advise if it is really true that I can only treat this as a very expensive lesson or if there's any avenue for me to pursue. Thanks.

Looking at your case, I would advise you to make a report to the Commercial Affairs Department, they deal with commercial crimes and are under the Singapore Police Force.

I am sure there must be transaction records and other details. Make a report first and assist the investigating officers by providing as much information as possible. Do not delay!!!

Regards

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Wind In My Hair
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Re: Any case for Legal pursue?

Post by Wind In My Hair » Thu, 29 Jan 2009 9:33 pm

twista88 wrote:Looking at your case, I would advise you to make a report to the Commercial Affairs Department, they deal with commercial crimes and are under the Singapore Police Force.

I am sure there must be transaction records and other details. Make a report first and assist the investigating officers by providing as much information as possible. Do not delay!!!
This is a good idea, Phoebe. Do take Twista's advice. This guy probably cheated others too, and with enough complaints the CAD could initiate action or forward the case to an authority who can.

You may not get your money back but if you highlight it at least you stand a chance. And you could help prevent others from falling prey to this guy.

twista88
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Re: Any case for Legal pursue?

Post by twista88 » Thu, 29 Jan 2009 9:45 pm

Wind In My Hair wrote:
twista88 wrote:Looking at your case, I would advise you to make a report to the Commercial Affairs Department, they deal with commercial crimes and are under the Singapore Police Force.

I am sure there must be transaction records and other details. Make a report first and assist the investigating officers by providing as much information as possible. Do not delay!!!
This is a good idea, Phoebe. Do take Twista's advice. This guy probably cheated others too, and with enough complaints the CAD could initiate action or forward the case to an authority who can.

You may not get your money back but if you highlight it at least you stand a chance. And you could help prevent others from falling prey to this guy.
Hi Phoebe, you should take both our advice and pursue the matter, if you are unsure who and how to contact. Just visit this site www.cad.gov.sg. It has sufficient information on how you should go about reporting. Just in case you can't access the site through the forum, you may choose to google the word 'cad' and search it under SG.

Regards

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