Tenerife investor to be tried for €2.5 million fraud: 12 years in prison demanded.
On Tenerife, investor Mukesh Daswani and his accomplices will be tried on suspicion of fraudulently seizing more than 2.5 million euros by promising high returns on investment.
Investor Mukesh Daswani from Tenerife will be tried for allegedly swindling over 2.5 million euros from local residents. He promised people high returns on investments in the stock market, and many believed him.
The prosecutor's office is seeking a 12-year prison sentence for him for fraud on a particularly large scale. They also want him to return all the money he took from people – over 2.5 million euros. But Daswani will not be alone in the dock. His partner and his assistant, who worked with him in the firm, will be tried along with him. The prosecutor's office is seeking 9 years in prison for them. In addition, the prosecutor's office wants the defendants to return all the money they stole from people through the court.
In total, the case involves 120 victims who have jointly filed a lawsuit against the fraudsters. It is said that they organized a financial pyramid – a classic Ponzi scheme.
The fraud became known in the summer of 2022. The defendants used the firm Tradex, which was located in the capital of Tenerife. They looked professional and offered people to invest money, promising up to 50% profit in just two months. At first, they even returned the money to gain trust.
When people started to trust them, they оформлювали loan agreements or simply transferred money, believing that it was a legitimate business. One of the defendants even sent fake profit reports, which allegedly confirmed the promised payments.
For the first few months, Daswani paid the promised interest, so people trusted him, reinvested money, and attracted new clients.
Another defendant knew how the scheme worked and helped attract investors, rented offices, and advertised the business on social media. They even created a firm to look solid and inspire more confidence.
As the number of clients and money increased, the defendants began to invest it in their own property. Money was returned only when the client asked for it back or demanded interest.
The prosecutor's office says that the scheme was unviable because it depended on a constant influx of new investors to pay money to the old ones. Eventually, it all fell apart like a house of cards. Payments stopped, and the fraud was exposed. Before the inevitable collapse, the defendants began to hide their property, selling it to other people and opening accounts in the United Arab Emirates, Lithuania, and Great Britain. They transferred part of the money into cryptocurrency through a platform in the Seychelles.
Daswani fled to the United Arab Emirates, but he was detained in October 2022, and the court issued a warrant for his extradition.
Daswani's partner lived a lavish lifestyle, traveled, received gifts and money transfers. The prosecutor's office does not know if she knew that the money was stolen, but demands that she return 327,500 euros, which she received while Daswani was engaged in fraud.