australias biggest scammer, page-5

'Prince' involved in $8m con: court
Email Print Normal font Large font April 3, 2008 - 5:57PM
(Sydney Morning herald)

A self-proclaimed prince from Melbourne's suburbs fleeced investors in his trucking business of more than $8 million to fund a lavish lifestyle of fast cars and racehorses, a court has heard.

Omar Yusuf, 39, allegedly told employees and investors he had been given the title of prince by the Saudi Arabian royal family.

Yusuf, of Eltham North, used the title to open a bank account, used a Prince Omar Yusuf stamp to mark the back of cheques and even created an Australia Post stamp bearing his picture for correspondence.

He also had a website which included photographs of himself in helicopters, jets and yachts.

He now faces 169 counts of obtaining property and financial advantage by deception.

Yusuf had obtained $9.2 million from investors between 2003 and 2005 for the purpose of buying trucks, but spent only $1.45 million to buy the vehicles, according to a prosecution summary handed to the Melbourne Magistrate's Court.

The rest of the money was spent on Yusuf's lavish lifestyle, including a BMW and a Ferrari car, overseas travel and a racehorse, to "create the illusion that the accused was a very wealthy man", the summary said.

Police have obtained statements from 109 investors in Yusuf's On the Go Transport company, of which Yusuf was the sole director, the summary said.

Yusuf, who appeared in court briefly via video link on Thursday, allegedly lured investors by offering substantial returns and creating an illusion he was a wealthy prince.

On the website, he claimed Yusuf Holdings was the umbrella company for On the Go with more than 6,500 employees worldwide and an annual turnover of $US650 million ($A712 million).

The prosecution summary said Yusuf issued a company prospectus, which was not lodged with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), offering investors a return of $2,000 a month for five years after making an initial $36,000 investment.

According to the prospectus, the $36,000 was to be used to finance a loan to buy a 49 per cent share in a truck.

The prospectus was varied several times and distributed to potential investors throughout 2003 and 2004.

By 2005, 262 loan agreements had been signed, with some individual investors signing up to seven each.

Between July 2003 and March 2005, $9,257,600 of investors' money was deposited into one of two bank accounts operated by Yusuf.

Analysis by police forensic accountants allegedly found Yusuf then used the investors' own deposited funds to pay their monthly returns.

Yusuf fled Australia in 2005 for Malaysia after selling all the trucks and withdrawing all the money from the company's two accounts.

Defence lawyer Daniel Sala indicated Yusuf would plead guilty to an appropriate set of charges. He has not yet entered a plea.

Yusuf was remanded to appear in the Supreme Court of Victoria on April 17 for a mention.

He made no application for bail.