Thread: Pips August 2008 Trial News

I think you guys have forgotten another "investment" by PIPS - the silly fashion house, BAJI or whatever it was called!

IMO, Bryan thought with PIPS, he could actually create a mini economy modeled on how commercial banks work. What he conveniently ignored is that banks don't pay their lenders 2% per day! Moreover, he doesn't have the license to practice fractional reserve banking. Otherwise, he could have created 5 fold whatever was deposited with him out of thin air. This would have greatly helped. LOL!

He also thought that investors would actually go slow and build up their units. If I remember correctly, it takes something like 3 months just to breakeven if the minimum deposit of $450 was left untouched. That would have given him time to not only stretch the ponzi but to actually find some legitimate means to invest the deposits. Remember, he put ads in the local papers looking for forex traders? Apparently Gary had some experience doing trading as well. However, the unexpected tsunamic response meant that money kept pouring in and the bigger investors could start reaping returns without waiting too long. Bryan had to comply or risk looking fraudulent. This was the point when it started becoming a full fledged ponzi. There simply was no other option.

Bryan became drunk by the sheer ease of how large amounts of money kept flowing in that he actually began believing he could run a mini economy. Theoritically, as long as claims were not made simultaneously by everyone, PIPS would not suffer a "bank run". As it kept growing and the demands for withdrawals escalated not in tandem but way beyond, he had to find more ways to get larger lumpsums of money coming in. Hence, the bistro franchise scheme. He was hoping that people would be gullible enough to pay, what, 6 figure amounts? So the model bistro in Nilai was set up not so much as a stream of income but to prove/show how a PIPS bistro works. Unfortunately, people prefer easy money and I think no one fell for it. Also, there was that ridiculous 3% programme that was oh so much more attractive. The poor and unprofessional PIPS administration wasn't exactly confidence building either. If you can't even do paperwork properly, how are you going to cope with something as harsh as the Food & Beverage business. This was the beginning of the end.

BAJI was set up so that PIPS could hobnob with "society types" and perhaps lure/fool value added investors. Once again, the urgency for large injections of cash. You need to understand that by this stage, desperate times called for desperate measures. Anyway, as we all know, by this time, the whole joke called PIPS imploded and the authorities swooped in. Game over!

Bryan was still tenacious, though, and thought he had better squirrel away some much needed cash for when he escapes from Malaysia( he was confident he had enough clout to do so. Sorry man, the days of the British Raj are long gone! LOL! ) Therefore he tried expanding halotto or whatever crap that was. This time round, people couldn't use Picpay and was forced to pay cash and this was absolutely delicious to him. Not only did this fail, the members caught his identity lie( can't remember the details why he resorted to that. ). By now, it was jail time.

All in all, we have here someone who thought Malaysia was corrupt and lax enough to allow him and his schemes to thrive. Perhaps he believed hobnobbing with powerful people and royalty could cover his ass. Worse case scenario - bribe the right people. It was verrrrrry poor judgment on his part. Too bad!

Unfortunately there are people who will never believe that BM was a con man, whilst others believe he was.

HENCE THE NEED FOR BATTY TO ATTEND THE TRIAL!

Having attendance at the trial is THE ONLY WAY to satisfy EVERYONE'S quest for the truth.Give whatever you can to this worthy cause.

Thank you ROL members for your support!

Originally Posted by Dreamer

HENCE THE NEED FOR BATTY TO ATTEND THE TRIAL

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I will try to bring back the news. I am very happy this trip as I had manage to give the members a view of the duo. It was the least I can do.

Hopefully the trial starts soon. I am begining to think I am caught in a loop in time. LOL

Cheers.

theBat$

Hi all,

Here are some info I got from talking to a two court officials.

Court Official 1

CO1: Hi you're that reporter guy.

BAT: Yes, how are you?

CO1: Fine, thanks. Err.. so you're here for the fella?

BAT: Yes.

CO1: You cannot do anything to help him?

(why would I want to do that? )

BAT: I can't. I'm just here to report on the proceedings.

CO1: You know that they fired their lawyers.

BAT: I didn't. So what are they going to do?

CO1: I heard they want to take legal aid.

BAT: What about the trial today?

CO1: Hmm. Not to sure. Wait and see.

Comments:
You can imagine my amazement. Sacking their lawyer prior to starting of the trial. Are they really that clueless or intend to prolong their stay in the Malaysian hospitality (prison)?

Court Official 2

BAT: Hi. Do you remember me?

CO2: Oh..Hi. I'm not sure.....

BAT: I always attend the BM Trial.

CO2: Oh yes. Anything I can help you with?

BAT: What can you tell me about the trial thus far?

CO2: His lawyers dropped him, "the moviestar" and "a famous lawyer".

BAT: Have they gotten a replacement?

CO2: They say "No money..no money....money all frozen by the BNM".

BAT: What about todays trial?

CO2: Most probably postponed again.

BAT: *groan* I see.

(almost screamed my head off! )

BAT: What about bail? Anyone step up to help?

CO2: That's the funny thing. No one has come forward to post bail. Not even their family.
We also haven't heard from the British Authorities, since BM is UK citizen. It's not our
practice to inform the British Authorities but BM could have ask the prison authorities
to contact them.

BAT: Yes, that's strange. You would think that there will be intervention as soon as one of
their citizens get arrested instead of letting him languish for years.

Comment
BM probably is still trying to cut a deal and if the British Authorities get involved he would face prosecution back in the UK too. So that's why he is staying put. Hopefully the new lawyer who requested the case be brought forward for him to study it, will be much better than the previous one.

Cheers.

theBat$ - All reports done.

p/s Click my link to put some color into your desktop and support me!

Thanks theBat$,

Simply amazing, I can only imagine how frustrating it was for you to hear the same old same old on every visit. I beginning to think Bryan doesn't want out, too many enemies awaiting him on the outside who he had destroyed their hopes, dreams and in many cases, their lives.

Thanks, Mike

Hi Bat$ thanks for you efforts

Has the trial been posponed again? Or is it on again Monday

BAT: What about todays trial?

CO2: Most probably postponed again.

BAT: *groan* I see.

(almost screamed my head off! )

"....I beginning to think Bryan doesn't want out,....."

You may having something there.

Based on the Nick Leeson case( very different and in S'pore, I know. But a white collar crime all the same. ) as well as other financial fraud cases, jail terms are only up 10 years. In Nick's case, he spent 6.5 years and came out a success:

Nick Leeson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nick Leeson - Official Website

In Bryan's case, he's being charged with money laundering and this carries a maximum of only 5 years imprisonment. Charged with money laundering
Based on precedent, the sentence would start the moment of incarceration which in his case was 31st Aug 2006( MERDEKA! LOL!! O, the irony!!! )
So if he gets convicted this year, he will only need to sit in jail for another 3 more years( maybe even less if he can prove illness. Remember, he's a chain smoker. )before quietly coming out to enjoy his ill gotten gains abroad and away from Malaysia. Yes, I'm sure he's stashed some away somewhere. He'd most likely dump Sharon since she's no longer useful to him and would only be a financial and social drain otherwise.

In the mean time, he's probably spending his time making the right contacts with other white collar crime jailbirds &/or triad types so that upon release, with this network, he can start cheating again or find crooked ways to increase his dirty money before it dwindles. And dwindle it will because he badly needs cosmetic surgery and a whole new set of teeth.

I suspect that Fluffy’s analysis is pretty much on target.
The change of attorney is odd but may be due to the difficulty of defending against charges of money laundering when the prosecution have the relevant bank documents in hand. Perhaps the first attorney felt that a not guilty plea was inappropriate.
When the corporate account is virtually empty but the personal accounts are full, there is a prima facie case of money laundering.
By stringing out the process, Marsden may well hope that memories will have faded by the time he is released. Even were they to make bail, it would hardly have been a comfortable existence. I am sure there are a number of aggrieved Pipsters who might wish to take the law into their own hands and, being on bail, it would be impossible for them to hide.
As far as the possibility of Marsden having stashed money away, this is unlikely in my opinion.
He was a totally incompetent amateur when it came to banking or finance and, with the international regulations in force at the time, only by using a proxy account holder would it have been possible.
Whilst I am fully supportive of the bat$ efforts and will be making a further donation, I feel that many will be disappointed at the outcome of the trial.
This is not about Pips and there is no reason for any details of that scurrilous operation to surface.
The Malaysian authorities are undoubtedly relieved and satisfied to have shut down a fraudulent investment scheme within their jurisdiction and would see little point in pursuing the matter further

".....He was a totally incompetent amateur when it came to banking or finance......"

I remember towards the latter part of the " blaming the bank " game, he was going all over the world, particularly in the Philippines( where he ingratiated himself to the government with the school and that obese UN official ) looking for banks that would help speed up transactions. At least that was the impression he gave. His last destination was Panama and I suspect he finally managed to persuade a/several bank(s) there to accept his dirty money.

By the time he's released from gaol, a conservative US$1M placed in capital guaranteed structured investments with an average annual return of 10% would have added several hundreds of thousands more over the intervening years. The interest alone would be enough to start a new life - downpayment for a house and a badly needed makeover. Also, Panama being tropical would be perfect for someone like him with a phobia of the cold.