SINGAPORE – A man who fled Singapore while on bail almost nine years ago was charged in court on Monday over allegedly being involved in a fraudulent multimillion-dollar foreign exchange investment scheme.

Michael Atkins, a 50-year-old American citizen, was extradited to Singapore on March 18 after his whereabouts were traced with the help of US authorities.

Both an Interpol red notice and a warrant of arrest were issued against Atkins after he failed to report for investigations following his arrest and release on bail in July 2014. The Commercial Affairs Department was investigating Aureus Capital, a company of which Atkins was a director and shareholder.

A red notice is a request to law enforcement agencies worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender or similar legal action.

From May 2013 to July 2014, Aureus Capital offered an investment scheme where it would trade in leveraged foreign exchange on behalf of the scheme’s participants.

It collected $18 million from more than 1,000 investors from this scheme.

Atkins was charged with being a knowing party to a fraudulent purpose of Aureus Capital’s business of trading in leveraged foreign exchange for its clients when it did not operate any substantive trading activities and had no sustainable means to fund its operations or the promised payouts to its clients.

Those found guilty face a fine of up to $15,000, a jail term of up to seven years, or both.