Internet scam fleeces SAR investors
JO PEGG
A sophisticated global investment scam using
Internet sites to con buyers has fleeced Hong
Kong people of millions of dollars, UK
investigators on their way to the SAR have
revealed.
Police investigating the scam estimate the
fraudsters - who have set up bank accounts
and offices in Switzerland, Guernsey, Belize,
Austria, Malta and the West Indies - could
have netted billions of dollars worldwide,
much of it from investors in Hong Kong,
Singapore and other Asian countries.
Potential investors are sent brochures offering
shares in funds at "special" low prices, and
are referred to Internet sites which appear to
track the sham funds' daily growth.
But when buyers try to pull out, they are
advised to switch to another "promising
investment" and send more money, told they
cannot have their money back, or their calls
go unanswered.
Detective Constable Martin Woods of
Britain's National Crime Squad said there was
little chance victims would get their money
back.
He said the sophistication of the con and the
money spent to make it look convincing
meant there may not be much left if the
brains behind the operation are ever caught.
The operation was uncovered through
documents found during a police raid on a
London solicitor's office over an unrelated
crime.
"There are an immense number of victims.
It's multi-multi-millions of dollars," Detective
Constable Woods said.
"Previous similar scams have netted billions
of dollars."
British financial investigator Tony
Hetherington said the operation had existed
under different names for at least four years.
He understood the masterminds were
Canadian and said investigators suspected the
scam was started with Colombian drug
money.
A Lam Tin engineer who sank more than
$120,000 into worthless investments said he
was convinced by brochures he received after
answering a magazine advertisement.
He monitored what he believed were
independent Web sites, and items about the
funds in the International Herald Tribune's
Internet edition, which he thought were news
items but were actually advertisements.
Detective Constable Woods, of the Money
Laundering Investigation Team, will interview
known Hong Kong victims - who have lost
about $2 million between them - at the British
Consulate early next month before going on
to Singapore.
He says the cases his team are investigating
would probably only scratch the surface, as
many local victims would have written off the
loss as a bad investment and not called police.
Three other local people have lost $1.5
million, $230,000 and $78,000.
A solicitor, magistrate and an accountant have
been arrested in London on suspicion of
laundering the proceeds of the operation
through British bank accounts.
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