If money is lost, it is the time to fight to get it back
SHARJAH: When Emirates-based British expatriate Amber Waheed fell victim to a financial advisory fraud in Dubai, she not only fought her case in court, but also documented her experience in a book to help other victims. The Great Fraud Fightback has been released on Amazon and is fast becoming a bestseller, with copies sold internationally, including the UK, Canada, Europe and Australia. Waheed says that its appeal is because as she “was to quickly learn, what had affected me so profoundly was an experience, something that affects at some point, almost half of the expats in the Middle East: financial advisory fraud.” She adds it is “a positive book on the Emirates, because it faces a lot of unfair comparisons, because of lack of awareness and education.” In the book, she shares her story and compares her experience with other jurisdictions and regulators and provides valuable insights for people who may have suffered similar frauds.
Facing cost, complication and litigation, few victims have been able to challenge con artists in expensive suits, who prey on the vulnerable from all levels of society.
“Read the true story of someone who did stand up to them when she too was a victim”, the book exhorts. “A one-woman army who took on the fraudsters and obtained justice ater an unprecedented two-year trial that took place in the Dubai courts but covered an international web of deceit”. Financial advisory fraud is a sophisticated crime, and most people are not quite sure how they have been scammed. It does not just involve the financial advisor: since there are many parties involved, it blurs the lines of who is ultimately responsible for victims losing their investment. Waheed was duped by an unlicensed financial advisor out of investing £60,000 in risky pension funds, which quickly went bust. Instead of placing her cash in conservative, long term investment funds, Waheed’s money was piled into riskier alternatives, promising greater commissions. She was one of several clients to suffer substantial losses as a result. Although the defence insisted the case against it was a result of an administrative mater, Dubai criminal courts found otherwise, and the defendant was charged with offering financial advice without a license. Financial advisory fraud is a negative reoccurrence in Dubai and brings a lot of unjustified focus onto the emirate as a consequence. Waheed says that “the main reason for me was to educate people through my experience, in various areas, and spread the experience — and a book is the best medium to do that.”
The book also covers the following learning points for the reader:
* Financial advisory knowledge and education — how rogue financial advisors and financial service providers operate and work together, and how they protect themselves and how they make money from investors
*Through her experience, Waheed gives an overview of the type of investment funds and financial products to avoid signing up to, as well as the proven science behind it.
* The book also contains practical and technical legal advice and templates offering a roadmap to help other people navigate similar complex legal cases against a rogue financial advisor through the Dubai courts, and if victims were to pursue a court action against a financial service provider overseas.
* People can learn how to protect themselves from scams, as the book targets the average reader who has litle or no understanding of the financial advisory industry, but wants to learn more about it before investing, as well as those who feel stuck, confined and in-prison by their current financial investment circumstances.
How to financially educate yourself is key. And for this reason, Waheed has partnered with a local sponsor and shall be conducting a series of educational podcasts based on the book, starting June, to share with people the right investing education and help them avoid the costly mistakes that most investors make.
Waheed’s book oten reads like fiction but is a real life comforter: a rollercoaster ride that has offered hope to thousands of victims. More so, it is the perfect antidote to victims and those seeking to safeguard themselves from becoming victims.
The Great Fraud Fightback is available on Amazon.