SINGAPORE

In a stunning saga of greed and deception, a man has been exposed for misappropriating investor funds to settle his business debts while fabricating a story about the money being stolen.

Madarssamarecar Mohamed Bagurudeen, a 48-year-old permanent resident of Singapore who also holds French citizenship, drew in investors with an alluring scheme he advertised in 2017. He bewilderingly promised returns of up to 3% interest monthly for convertible loans made to his company, The Gold Souk Investment Holding, which has since been struck off from business records.

In total, Bagurudeen secured a staggering $865,000 from four naive investors, only to later face pressing financial difficulties in 2018 when two of his money-changing businesses began to flounder. Rather than admit his precarious situation, he resorted to utilizing the cash from investors to cover repayments and refunds owed to other clients.

In a turn of events that further complicates his already dubious dealings, Bagurudeen also solicited funds from an acquaintance named Farook under the guise of assisting with transactions for property purchases. Without Farook's consent, he diverted funds from this earlier arrangement to meet his mounting debt obligations.

The house of cards began to unravel when Bagurudeen pleaded guilty on April 4 to five counts of criminal breach of trust, with sentencing set for April 15. The investigation into his affairs was launched in 2019 after Farook filed a police report, feeling uneasy about the financial frictions arising from their dealings.

Farook had been involved in a contract with a mysterious figure named Richard, acting as a middleman by managing cashier’s orders on behalf of real estate and vehicle transactions in exchange for a commission. When the dealer made a complicated series of transactions, Bagurudeen attempted to manipulate the situation for his benefit, pocketing over $8,000 in commissions while helping to facilitate these arrangements.

In a desperate act, Bagurudeen closed the original bank account linked to Farook's money and enlisted an ally, Sivakumar Madivanan, to assist in the transactions. When a significant $2.7 million transfer was made, disaster struck as Farook's attempts to deposit additional cash were thwarted when the bank denied the transaction.

Desperate to apply for the cashier’s order, Farook instead handed Bagurudeen $2.9 million in cash alongside important documents—completely unaware of the dire situation Bagurudeen found himself in, including growing debts owed to other money changers.

Tragically, instead of facilitating a successful transaction, Bagurudeen deducted $500,000 to repay those creditors and falsely claimed to Farook that he lost the initial funds due to bank queries. When pressed for the cash back, Bagurudeen only returned $2.4 million, insisting that the rest had been deposited successfully, which prompted Farook to contact law enforcement.

As the investigation moved forward, it was revealed that Bagurudeen had not only failed to repay his investors but had resorted to lies claiming their money had been stolen in Malaysia after converting it into Malaysian ringgit, further complicating the scandal.

The gravity of the situation is considerable; for each count of criminal breach of trust, he faces a potential 20-year prison sentence and hefty fines. Meanwhile, Sivakumar also faces charges related to his involvement in the scheme, with his pretrial conference scheduled for April 30.

This shocking case serves as a cautionary tale about the risks involved in investment schemes and the lengths to which individuals may go to conceal their misdeeds. Investors must remain vigilant and conduct thorough due diligence before entrusting their hard-earned money to others.