Shocking revelations have emerged of a massive financial scam orchestrated by Vishaal Shashikant Shah, a Kenyan businessman based in Dubai, who has been compared to the infamous American fraudster Bernard Madoff.
An anonymous wrote to this blog with information that sheds light on how Shah has allegedly swindled over USD 30 million from unsuspecting investors, including childhood friends, family members, business associates, and employees.
According to the information provided, Shah moved from Kenya to Dubai around 15 years ago and acquired 20% shares in a company called Panache, which was originally based in Fujairah, UAE.
Within a few years, he allegedly took full control of the business without paying the original shareholders for their shares, and moved the company’s operations to Dubai.
From there, he reportedly started recruiting potential investors for his fraudulent schemes.
The source reveals that Shah’s first major scam involved attracting investors to Panache, with some injecting as much as AED 5 million (approximately USD 1.3 million) into the business.
Many of these investors have not seen any returns on their investments and have suffered significant financial losses, with some even losing their lives or loved ones due to the immense financial pressure caused by Shah’s scams.
When the route of investors was exhausted, Shah allegedly started a Ponzi scheme, where he promised fixed returns ranging from 5% to 30% annually to non-shareholder investors.
He reportedly secured funding from peer-to-peer lending companies like Beehive and an invoice factoring firm based in Mauritius, where he converted both real and fictitious invoices into cash.
He also colluded with bank staff to secure extra funding from financial institutions like Habib Bank, Emirates Bank, RAK Bank, and Mashreq Bank, and targeted friends, family members, and staff to repay the banks and fund his schemes.
The source further notes that Shah had manipulated accounts, overinvoiced the value of goods he purchased to get extra funding from banks, and defaulted on payments to suppliers of raw materials and machinery, keeping a revolving credit running for millions of AED (Emirati Dirham) at all times.
The extent of Shah’s fraud and the number of people affected by his schemes is staggering.
Many of his employees are reportedly unpaid for several months, and numerous individuals and businesses have suffered financial losses.
Despite the magnitude of his scams and the devastation caused to many lives, Shah has managed to evade accountability for a long time.
