PANJIM: Sydney Lemos, serving 500 years of imprisonment in the $200 million Extential scam in Dubai, has challenged his conviction in a higher court. This comes nearly three months after the Court of First Instance in Dubai sentenced the Goan man to imprisonment.
With the assistance of Goan counsel Wilbur Menezes, a Dubai-based lawyer has appealed in the Court of Appeals of the Emirate of Dubai challenging the lower court’s order. The matter is will be heard on July 30.
“Lemos’ appeal has been filed in the Court of Appeals through our local counsel and we are confident the appeal will end positively. The good news is that investor claim settlements have commenced. Many investors have already finalised settlement terms with my client and his company Exential,” Menezes told Herald after carrying out the legal procedure in the Dubai court.
In what could come as a relief to Lemos family, Menezes claimed that several investors, who are complainants in this case, have now confessed they were misguided and have expressed their intention to withdraw the cases against Lemos.
Lemos (37) and Ryan de Souza (25) were convicted of duping thousands of investors in a scheme that offered investors 120 percent annual returns on a minimum investment of $25,000 through his company. According to the complaints, the company paid profits initially but stopped paying investors after the scheme collapsed in March 2016 and the Dubai Economic Department shut down the company’s offices in July 2016.
Lemos, promoter of Exential group, his wife and co-accused Valany and senior accounts specialist Ryan De Souza were acquitted in two matters concerning alleged financial fraud/embezzlement worth millions.
Lemos, Menezes said, given a chance is willing to return the amount to the
investors. “Let me make it unambiguously clear, my client Lemos and his company Exential intend to settle the claims of each and every investor. My client is glad that investors have acknowledged that filing criminal complaints have left them nowhere. My client admits that his company Exential could have handled the situation better and regrets how things unfolded. However, Lemos also regrets that investors fell prey to a rogue employee who instigated investors and manufactured panic,” he further said.
