The man was persuaded to invest in a high-return investment plan. As long as he deposited 10 million US dollars in a designated account for 100 days, he could not only get a daily return of 20 million US dollars, but also obtain a US "green card" with his family.
The man followed the instructions and deposited the money into a lawyer's account, but the lawyer took the money and transferred it.
The lawyer pleaded guilty to theft in the High Court today (10th), and the court revealed that the lawyer had also been deceived by the same investment scheme to commit the crime in order to compensate other victims.
The judge adjourned the case to next Friday (17th) for sentencing.
Defendant Zhang Youhong, 70 years old, was a councillor in the Central and Western District in the 1990s. Later, he was charged with false documents and was acquitted in 2015.
Refers to the program being overseen by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
The prosecution case alleges that the male victim X learned of a high-return investment program in September 2014, and he later met the female representative of the investment program through others. The female representative called the investment program “Cities Upliftment Program”. The funds are used to develop a region of the United States and are regulated by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Investors need to invest at least 10 million yuan, and the money will be deposited in the account of a designated lawyer for 100 days.
In addition to high returns for investors, he and his family can obtain a US "green card".
Female representative and provide documentation, including appointment documents from the U.S. consulate.
Invest $10M and get $20M a day in return
After listening, X expressed his interest in investing and signed the application form.
On October 15, 2014, the female representative presented the approval notice to X.
The notice was signed by "Rienze Edwards" and mentioned that X could receive a return of $20 million per day for 75 banking days.
Defendant remits money to Singapore after 5 days
X transferred $10 million to the defendant's bank account on the same day.
X and the female representative went to the law firm again to meet the defendant.
The defendant emphasized at the time that he was only keeping the funds on behalf of the investors and would not misappropriate them.
However, on the 20th of the same month, the defendant transferred X's money to the account of another Singaporean female investor without authorization.
X has repeatedly asked the defendant to repay the loan but failed
On 3, 2015, the female representative told X that there was a problem with the defendant's account, and that X would receive a return later.
Later, X learned from the news that the defendant was involved in a criminal case, worried that his investment would not be guaranteed, and asked the defendant to refund the money.
From 2015 to 2018, X repeatedly contacted the defendant, but the other party was unwilling to meet, and kept pushing and refusing to repay.
After investigation, it was found that the defendant had also been deceived
X eventually called the police in April 2019, and the defendant was arrested in June of the same year, and he remained silent under caution.
Police found documents at his residence, including the defendant's letter to the US consulate and a report to the Hong Kong police, alleging that he was lobbied to join the scheme.
At first, he was not afraid of fraud, until he found out that the bank documents were false, and then he realized that the plan was a scam.
Edwards, the mastermind behind the scam, lobbied the defendant to invest $40 million, but the defendant was financially weak and only invested $13.5 million.
In addition, the document also includes a statutory declaration made by the defendant in the United States, stating that the defendant had reported the case to the FBI and others.
The return on investment plan is 263 times that of U.S. debt
Accountants pointed out that the rate of return on the investment plan involved was 263 times that of U.S. Treasury bonds over the same period.
When the defense lawyer pleaded for mercy, he pointed out that the defendant was also the owner of the investment plan and did not benefit from the case.
In order to compensate the victims of the investment scheme, the defendants used stupid methods.
He also reported the case to try to arrest the main characters of the fraud syndicate.
Case number: HCCC350/2020
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