A woman is on trial for making millions by scamming investors in a giant Ponzi scheme after claiming to have developed a microchip that could prevent plane turbulence.
But there is no evidence that the so-called chip, which was touted as being able to warn pilots about turbulence ahead of time, even exists, and now she is on trial for fraud after her investors filed complaints.
Cigdem Ilgun allegedly claimed to have a PhD from Marmara University’s Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Department, when in fact she has only a Master’s degree.
She told prosecutors in Turkey: “I am a graduate of Marmara University’s Department of Physics. Since I studied at the department for five years, it was accepted as a master’s degree without a thesis. I also worked as an assistant at Marmara University for five years. But I don’t have a doctorate.”
To entice investors to pour money into the ‘project’, she allegedly claimed to have secured USD 150 million (GBP 122 million) in funding. She then reportedly marketed the company to firms in Turkey and around the world.
This led to her company receiving investments from all over the world, including from her own relatives, with her now accused of defrauding them too.
She had claimed that investors would make a 30 per cent profit on their money and received funds from pilots, doctors and engineers too, to the tune of at least TRY 20 million (GBP 600,000).
For a time, Ilgun, who denies fraud, allegedly paid 30 per cent out to some of the investors, in what is known as a Ponzi scheme, before others also began asking for their profits and her scheme was rumbled when the payments suddenly stopped.
Some of the victims, represented by lawyer Elif Nur Aydin, then filed a complaint with Turkish prosecutors, who began investigating Ilgun.
Aydin said: “In the first stage, she sent the money back to the victims along with the return of the money sent.
“She established trust in order to get more money. When investors who were sure of the money flow they sent larger amounts of money in order to get more returns, but their money was then not returned at the specified time.”
The case is ongoing.
To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below.
Story By: Joseph Golder, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency: Newsflash
The Ananova page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.
