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How a conman worked hard to cheat 70 investors of $135m

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Scammers often make promises of big profits for their victims, who always never think why they are being so generous.

Scammers often make promises of big profits for their victims, who always never think why they are being so generous.

PHOTO: UNSPLASH

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You have to have a few tricks up your sleeve to scam up to US$100 million (S$135 million) out of sophisticated investors, as Spanish fraudster Bismark Badilla showed in spectacular fashion.

His secret sauce had two key elements: He worked hard to “massage” his 70 or so investors into a false sense of security while being generous in paying off some early “customers”, who then introduced their friends, which enabled him to expand his pool of victims.

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