TIMES OF INDIA: Accused Ponzi Schemer Allegedly Became Target Of Kidnapping Plot And Was Held By ‘Armed Men’
The Times of India is reporting that accused Ponzi schemer Imtiyaz Hussain Saiyad allegedly was kidnapped by three people who wanted their money back and “held for over a week” by “armed men” before being rescued by police.
Such schemes are not unprecedented in scam land. The PP Blog reported in February 2010 that three Americans implicated in a bid to shake down the operators of a hedge fund associated with the alleged Equity Investment Management and Training Inc. (EIMT) Ponzi scheme pleaded guilty to criminal charges.
In the U.S. case, the shakedown bid “occurred after a fake meeting was arranged in March 2009 under the guise that a wealthy investor wanted to meet figures associated with EIMT,” the PP Blog reported.
Similar allegations are unfolding in the alleged kidnapping attempt in India.
From the Times (italics added):
The [accused] trio, Asif Hussain Siddique, Ayub Siddique, residents of Machipith and Iqbal Sheikh of Ajwa Road, told Saiyad that they had found a Lucknow-based investor who was ready to invest Rs 10 crore in his firm. The trio told him that he would have to meet the investor in Lucknow.
Read the story in the Times Of India.
For those who don’t know (I didn’t), “Rs 10 crore” is 100 million Rupees.
1 Indian rupee = 0.0186 US dollars, so $1.86M or £1.17.
Readers will find this helpful. Thank you, Tony.
Patrick