2 Indians get 517 yrs in prison in Dubai
Dubai, April 11: An Indian trader and his senior accounts specialist from Goa were sentenced by a Dubai court to 517 years each in prison on April 8.
The crime they were tried for was fleecing $ 200 million from 7,000 residents of the United Arab Emirates.
Sydney Lemos and Ryan de Souza can now make an appeal, but it might not amount to anything as they will have to spend a life term at Dubai Central Prison in Al Awir.
Judge Dr Mohammad Hanafi sentenced Lemos’ wife Valany as well, to 517 years in absentia.
The accused were convicted in the 515 cases filed against them.
They were sentenced to one year in jail each in 513 cases and two years in jail for the other two cases, the report added.
Lemons, his wife Valany, and Ryan D’Souza had lured many victims by offering them 120 per cent annual returns on a minimum investment of $ 25,000 ( over ` 16 lakh) through his company Exential.
The accused had disguised a fake scheme as a legitimate foreign currency trading programme and cheated many.
Initially, the company yielded profits but later started incurring losses, when the Dubai Economic Department shut down the company's offices in July 2016.
Lemos, who is a junior football player and the sponsor of FC Goa club in 2015, had been arrested in December 2016 and then let out on bail.