■ Case Overview This case involves an organized and premeditated fraud scheme by the defendant against multiple victims over a period of several years. After establishing a relationship of trust with the victims through personal introductions, the defendant approached them, representing himself as the owner of a promising business. The defendant extorted large sums of money from the victims on multiple occasions under the guise of business expenses, including working capital, payments for raw materials, performance bonds for delivery contracts, and logistics costs. The defendant abused the victims' trust by offering them specific and seemingly feasible repayment plans, such as "immediate repayment for raw material delivery within three weeks" and "immediate repayment for payment to the supplier." As a significant mitigating factor, the defendant was found to be of extremely poor character, as he sought additional victims through correspondence and continued his fraudulent behavior even while incarcerated in prison for his previous crimes. ■ Issues in the case First, whether the defendant's deceptive behavior was