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A 50-year-old American, who left Singapore nine years ago in 2014, has been extradited from the United States and charged on Apr. 3 for carrying out a fraudulent investment scheme.

Ran the scheme from May 2013 to July 2014

According to a statement by the Singapore Police Force (SPF), the scheme collected about S$18 million from over a thousand investors.

Atkins had been a director and shareholder of Aureus Capital.

Between May 2013 and July 2014, the company ran an investment scheme that traded in leveraged foreign exchange on behalf of clients.

The police further noted that the company did not operate substantive trading activities and had no sustainable means of funding its operations or the promised payouts to its investors.

Atkins was then arrested in the course of investigations carried out by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) into the company in July 2014.

He was released on police bail.

Absconded from Singapore in August 2014

Subsequently, he failed to report to the CAD for investigation as required, resulting in an arrest warrant and an Interpol Red Notice being issued against him.

U.S. court documents stated that Atkins absconded from Singapore some time between Aug. 5 and 14, 2014.

He travelled to Jakarta, Indonesia, where he applied for a new passport at the U.S. Embassy by falsely claiming he had lost his previous one.

With his fraudulently obtained passport, Atkins returned to the U.S.

The SPF added that the whereabouts of Atkins were traced with the assistance of the authorities there.

Extradited on Mar. 18, 2023 to Singapore

On Jun. 8, 2020, a request by the authorities in Singapore was put forth to the U.S. Embassy here for Atkins' extradition.

The Singapore authorities then supplanted their request on Feb. 11, 2022.

Atkins was arrested on Sep. 27, 2022.

A U.S. court eventually found that all requirements for his extradition had been met.

The SPF added that Atkins was successfully extradited to Singapore on Mar. 18, 2023.

If convicted of being a party to carrying on a business for fraudulent purposes, Atkins could be fined up to S$15,000, jailed up to seven years, or be subjected to both.

Top collage left photo via Franklin County Sheriff's Office, right photo by Mothership