A group of Filipino expats in the UAE have formed the ‘Pinoy EG Group’ in their hopes to recover thousands of dirhams lost when they joined the now-defunct Exential Group, known to have used a Ponzi-scheme in a scam that reached an estimated valuation of $200 million during its peak.
The Pinoy EG Group sought the assistance of the Philippine Consulate in Dubai and called on other Filipinos who were victimized by the fraudulent scheme to file claims and join the group as they said it would be better to pool their resources to process their legal claims.
52-year-old Rexie Tan, who lost an estimated $242,000 (Dh885,000), formed the group last August 2019, as per a report from Khaleej Times.
Tan said she took out a loan of Dh225,000 when she began investing in the group last 2014. After getting an initial hefty interest from the group, she resigned from her job, applied for more loans and invested more money.
Exential’s CEO Sydney Lemos and Ryan Fernandez, were sentenced by a Dubai court 500 years in prison, equivalent to one year of imprisonment for each of the 500 persons they have scammed, amounts of which have reportedly reached $200 million during its peak with over 7,000 UAE residents involved in the get-rich-quick investment scheme which was shut down in 2016.
The scheme involves asking individuals to invest $25,000 that will then be used for foreign exchange trading with a promise of profits of up to 120 percent.
The Philippine Consulate has provided legal assistance that will help the Filipino victims recover their money.
