Date:16/04/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/04/16/stories/2008041655370900.htm

International - India & World

Indian gets 7-year jail for duping investors of £100 million

London: A former accountant of Indian origin has been sentenced to over seven years’ imprisonment in Britain for duping investors of £100 million (Rs. 780 crore approximately).

Shinder Singh Gangar, 46, whom Justice Langstaff described as having “great ability and personal charm,” promised clients a return of up to 160 per cent a year on money invested with him. But there was no such scheme and the money was instead put into off-shore bank accounts.

The transactions were conducted through an accountancy company Dobb White & Co, which had offices in Leicester and Nottingham. Gangar, a resident of Leicestershire, and company partner Alan White, 49, used the cash to buy properties, provide loans to friends and invest in other speculative schemes. The investigation was conducted over several years by the Serious Frauds Office along with the Economic Crime Unit of the Leicestershire police. Both were jailed for seven-and-a-half years on Friday after they were convicted of the conspiracy to defraud and attempting to bribe a U.S. official.— PTI