The Inside Assyria Discussion Forum #5
=> Adden-dumb: Conman Karl had eyes on Franklins
| Adden-dumb: Conman Karl had eyes on Franklins |
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Posted by
Tiglath
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- Tuesday, December 5 2006, 12:31:03 (CET) from 210.84.14.155 - 210-84-14-155.dyn.iinet.net.au  Australia -  Windows XP -  Internet ExplorerWebsite: Website title: |
Conman Karl had eyes on Franklins Source: http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/conman-karl-had-eyes-on-franklins/2006/12/03/1165080816202.html Photo: http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2006/12/03/karlsuleman_narrowweb__300x338,0.jpg December 4, 2006 Karl Suleman … high school drop-out and successful convenience shop owner. Photo: Tamara Voninski Other related coverage Suleman dreamt of floating his way out Advertisement AdvertisementCONMAN Karl Suleman boasted he was negotiating to buy supermarket chain Franklins as part of a plan to sell off the stores to investors and become a grocery wholesaler. He also crowed that his Froggy.com. internet business would ultimately be worth at least $100 million. The 45-year-old former high flyer made the claim to investors in May 2001, six months before police and investigators from the corporate watchdog swooped and dismantled his $138 million pyramid scheme. More than five years later a District Court judge has retired to decide the fraudster's fate. After hearing evidence at the Downing Centre court over two days last week, the judge said "it seems he believed his own hype". Judge John Nield compared Suleman's ponzi scheme, which snared 2062 investors, to "borrowing from Peter to pay Paul". Suleman's lawyers last week argued that their client should not be given the maximum sentence for the 26 charges. He faces five years for each of 15 charges of making false statements to investors as well as 11 charges for creating bogus contracts which made it look like he had lucrative deals with supermarket groups. He has returned to Silverwater prison on remand until he is sentenced on January 24. Suleman's lawyers have painted him as a simpleton who was manipulated by greedy legal and accounting advisers and was hopelessly out of his depth running such a large empire. This contrasted with a psychiatric report which described him as of "perhaps superior intelligence". The court heard Suleman had successfully run a pair of convenience stores before operating a trolley collection business, but was unable to manage $138 million of investor funds. He lured the vulnerable and inexperienced investors from Sydney's Assyrian community with returns of 16 per cent per month and by showing them bogus trolley collection contracts he created on his computer. Many sold their homes and poured their life savings into the scheme. One investor lost $28,000 after Ashoor Lazar, a priest at St Hermizut Church in Greenfield Park, told him about Suleman's impressive returns. Instead of investing the funds, Suleman funnelled them to pay interest to other investors and to finance his lavish lifestyle and expensive toys. He entertained two former US presidents, Bill Clinton and George Bush snr, aboard his $3.3 million motor yacht and bought a luxury private jet and a fleet of sports cars. Suleman was banned from managing companies in 2002 and has already spent a year in prison on similar fraud charges. He was convicted of using bogus bank statements to obtain loans for a pair of Ferraris. He was charged with the current crimes just 28 days before he was released from serving the first jail term in March last year. Asked why he conned the investors, he replied: "I was stupid. I wanted to become successful." A contract had been put on his head, he said. "Because of the shame, I have to live in hiding all my life." --------------------- |
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- Monday, December 4 2006, 11:08:32 (CET)
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