In a Fraud case, you deliberately set out to take other people’s money, illegally, from the offset.
I don’t think he did that. I think his intentions were honest but he got too cocky by providing loans and overspending. However, I feel that he thought he was smart enough to make it all back and make good, like Nick Leeson.
I don’t think he set out to be a crook. I think he set out to be extremely wealthy, thought he was smarter than he was, then couldn’t cope when things started to collapse.
It’s different from setting out to craft a scheme to rob people.