Michel Taleb Toufic (far left), Axel Braun (center) and Vincent Vieugue told a district court that they had transferred part of the money to an OCBC bank account here. -- ST PHOTOS: WONG KWAI CHOW
THREE foreigners, who were conned of more than $1 million in a share brokerage scam, told a district court on Wednesday that they had transferred part of the money to an OCBC bank account here.
They were brought in as prosecution witnesses by the Commercial Affairs Division to prove the unlawful manner money was remitted into the account.
On trial is Tan Yong Sua, 47, who had opened the bank account in the name of Halifax Baldwin International - a company he set up in May 2007. The Singaporean faces 20 charges of facilitating the retention of criminal proceeds by withdrawing nearly $2 million between September 2007 and January 2008 and handing it to an accomplice known only as Ah Tiong.
The court heard that Scott Fitzgerald Group (SFG), claiming to be an offshore share brokerage firm, hooked unwary investors by promising good investment opportunities in shares listed in the United States. No shares were purchased and investors were then asked to remit more money for new shares.
Mr Michel Taleb Toufic, a Lebanese residing in Saudi Arabia, said that he had received a call from SFG representative Kelvin Price in mid 2007, who offered him a US$5 ($7.40) discount per share if he was to buy 500 Devon Energy shares. The 48-year-old engineer, who flew in from Riyadh on Monday, lost S$530,000.
A nother investor, construction project manager Axel Braun, 45, who arrived here from Shanghai on Tuesday, lost $176,000. The German said he got suspicious when told that his shares could not be sold for five years. He then searched the Internet only to discover many complaints against SFG.
French national Vincent Vieugue, 41, who arrived from Norway on Monday, said there was nothing to indicate that it was a scam but once money was sent to SFG, he never got a cent back. He was duped of $486,000.
The three witnesses said that all communication was through the phone, e-mail and fax machines. They did not meet anyone from SFG and did not know what the representatives looked like or where they operated from.
He and Mr Vieugue left Singapore on Wednesday night while Mr Toufic leaves on Thursday.
Mr Singh will argue that Tan has no case to answer when submissions are due in June.
Tan denies any knowledge that the money in the account was proceeds from criminal activity.
