SINGAPORE: A man who posed as a forex trader was sentenced to 10 years’ jail on Monday (Dec 16) for running a S$5 million Ponzi scheme that ensnared over a dozen investors, the police said.
Kenneth Kam Boon Hee, 57, was earlier convicted on Aug 26 on 63 charges of cheating.
The court found that Kam – the director of several companies including Kenn Capital, Kenn Organisation International and Kenneth Kam Pte Ltd – had falsely represented himself as a “successful” forex trader and misled victims into granting him loans.
He claimed to have generated high profits from his trading, giving victims the impression that he was capable of paying a monthly interest rate of 3 per cent that he promised in return for their loans.
“On this basis, the victims lent money to Kam for him to trade in forex in order to generate profits,” police said.
“In reality, Kam had been running a Ponzi scheme, and had funded the 3 per cent monthly interest payments to lenders with money borrowed from other members of the public.”
The businessman received about S$5 million in loans from investors, according to the police.
Kam was first charged in 2020 with 149 counts of cheating of about S$9 million, before being handed further charges in 2021.
“In total, he was charged with 340 cheating charges involving amounts of more than S$16 million and four charges of transferring benefits from his criminal conduct,” police said.
Kam’s trial proceeded on 63 counts of cheating involving 13 victims who had lent money to Kam, while the remaining charges were stood down, police added.
