Parrikar to meet Sushma to secure release of Dubai ponzi scam accused

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday said his government would seek the help of Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj to secure the release of Ryan de Souza, who was in April this year sentenced to 517-year imprisonment by a Dubai court for alleged involvement in a $200 million ponzi scam.

"I can't decide the matter. It depends on facts though I have sympathy for him. The case has been decided by the Dubai Court. I will meet the External Affairs Minister when I visit Delhi either August 7 or 8," Parrikar told the Goa assembly, in response to a question raised by Thivim MLA Nilkanth Halarnkar.

De Souza is a resident of Siolim village in North Goa and was employed at the Lemos Foundation, run by Sydney Lemos, an alleged mastermind of the ponzi scam, who was similarly sentenced by the Dubai Court. De Souza, 24, was arrested while attempting to leave the Emirate.

Pointing out that India shares warm relations with Dubai, he said the cordiality should help in resolving the matter.

Among other legislators, who urged the Chief Minister to speed up the process were Opposition leader Chandrakant Kavlekar and Nationalist Congress Party MLA Churchill Alemao.

On April 11, De Souza, along with his employer Sydney Lemos, promoter of the Exential Group, were sentenced by the Dubai Misdemeanours Court for their involvement in the ponzi scam probed by the United Arab Emirates authorities.

--IANS

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