SHAH ALAM (March 16): Two UK nationals have pleaded guilty to their roles in a global investment scam and were sentenced to six months imprisonment here on Thursday (March 16).

Sessions Court judge Rozilah Salleh meted out the sentence after Andrew Mark Peters, 54 and Darren Anthony McNicholas, 50 pleaded guilty to two respective charges each for their role in the scam which misled people into making investments in non-existent companies.

According to the facts of the case, Peters, who is alleged to be mastermind of an international fraud syndicate — based in the Klang Valley since 2015 — had conspired with McNicholas in running the syndicate. McNicholas would instruct a subordinate to contact people using pseudonyms to promote the purchase of shares in non-existent companies.

For the first offence, Peters was charged for abetting by commanding McNicholas in May 2019, where the latter through an agent with the pseudonym "David Henshaw" cheated a Scottish national, Ian Strachan by deceiving him into believing that he was guaranteed to make a profit from a short term investment by purchasing shares in a non-existent company, Novocure Limited.

This induced Strachan to transfer US$5,672.41 into an OCBC Bank account belonging to Premier Transfers Ltd.

For the second offence, Peters was charged for abetting by commanding McNicholas in June 2019, where the latter through an agent with the pseudonym "Henry Paxton" cheated Strachan by deceiving him into believing that he was guaranteed to make a profit from a short term investment by purchasing shares in a non-existent company, Lithion Power Corp. 

This induced Strachan to transfer €121,200 into a CIMB Bank account belonging to Premier Transfers Ltd.

The charges were framed under Section 109 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 417 of the same code and provides for maximum of five years imprisonment or with a fine or both.

McNicholas also faced two charges for the similar offences under Section 417.

Both fined and sentenced to six months imprisonment

Following the guilty plea from the duo, judge Rozilah sentenced both men to six months imprisonment, to start from the date of their arrest on Feb 21.

In addition, Peters was ordered to pay a RM180,000 fine and an additional 22 months imprisonment should he fail to pay the fine. McNicholas was ordered to pay a RM140,000 fine and faces an additional 16 months imprisonment should he fail to pay the fine.

During mitigation, Rafique Rashid Ali, who counselled for both men, argued for a lighter sentence of a six-month imprisonment for the charges and for it to run concurrently. 

This, as both men were first time offenders who had pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity to them. He added that the duo had also fully cooperated during investigations.

He also urged the court to take note of Peters' disability as he is wheelchair-bound.  

Deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Mohamad Fadhly Mohd Zamry argued for a sentence that was equivalent to the offence as it related to cheating which was frequent not just in Malaysia but globally as well. 

He also argued that if the sentence meted out was too low, it may convey a message that the court was not too concerned with cases of this nature. 

Lawyer Fahmi Abd Moin also appeared for the duo today while DPP Ahmad Akram Gharib also prosecuted today.
                                                                                                                              
It was reported that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission had busted the syndicate in an operation called "Op Tropicana" last month. The syndicate was said to have received RM200 million from victims in Australia and the United Kingdom.