Sydney Lemos: Goan known for his passion for football
Sydney Lemos, the brain behind the dubious forex investment firm Exential, hails from Mapusa in north Goa, India. Known for his love of football, Lemos, who is in his late 30s, never missed an opportunity to get involved in the game.
In 2015, Lemos and his FC Prime Markets surprisingly moved in as principal sponsor of Indian Super League (ISL) side FC Goa for a five-year period. Word then was that Lemos had agreed to this deal for Rs2.8 million (Dh161,000). It later surfaced that the signing amount, and subsequent instalments, were possibly in excess of Rs15 million.
In the UAE, Lemos has been equally active in the domestic football scene while fielding his FC Bardez during the annual Inter-Village Goan Ramadan Football Tournament held each year at the Iranian Club in Dubai. “Since 2012, I have been associated with him [Lemos] and he promised to do a lot of things. But sadly, not many promises were kept,” a close associate of his told Gulf News, on condition of anonymity.
“I invested in his scheme as well. Initially, the money came in as promised, but when it stopped, I called him and he simply refused to pick up my calls or even return them,” said another. Lemos reportedly owns a Ferrari, BMW X6 and Maserati. “What is upsetting is that not once did he or his wife [Valany] bother to mention that the company was going through a rough time. That hurts,” another investor said.