Fraudster jailed 14 years

[Katana]

Nov 18, 2009

Fraudster jailed 14 years

<!-- by line --> By Elena Chong
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Lee used his criminal proceeds to buy three watches, a gold chain and a branded leather wallet totalling $14,800. -- PHOTO: NP

<!-- story content : start --> A MAN who conned 91 victims of a staggering $13.4 million over a two-year period in a Ponzi-styled investment scam was packed off to prison for 14 years on Wednesday. Lee Hock Chye also known as Jon, 30, pleaded guilty to 16 counts of cheating with 149 others considered during his sentencing. A district court heard that he registered a company called LePrime in July 2006 to offer a variety of investment schemes. Lee, a director of the company, told clients that LePrime traded on the United States' Dow Jones, Hong Kong's Hang Seng and Japan's Nikkei indices through Dhana Investments, which was a fictitious company. Lee never intended to trade with the money from clients, and instead used the it for his personal expenditure, and to repay existing clients. He used his criminal proceeds to buy three watches, a gold chain and a branded leather wallet totalling $14,800. One of the clients made a police report May last year and he gave himself up about a month later. Lee could have been jailed for up to seven years and/or fined on each charge for offences before February last year, and up to 10 years and/or fined after that.

 

[Katana]

Nov 19, 2009

He cheated 91 of $13m

Lee Hock Chye jailed for 14 years for investment scam

<!-- by line --> By Elena Chong & Mavis Toh
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THEY were successful professionals in their own right. But the lure of making a quick buck saw two people fall for the ruse of a con man. Over a 12-month period from 2007 to last year, the 51-year-old architect and the 49-year-old senior manager handed over $700,000 altogether to Lee Hock Chye. They were not the only ones to fall for the scam. In all, Lee, 30, convinced 91 people in just two years to put $13.4 million into an investment scam he concocted in April 2006. Only $3 million was paid as returns to the customers. His victims - including retirees, businessmen and students - gave him amounts ranging from $430 to $744,000, after he promised them returns as high as 30 per cent. On Wednesday, District Judge Toh Yung Cheong jailed Lee for 14 years on 16 counts of cheating. Each could have landed him in jail for up to seven years.

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