Investors caught in alleged $1.2b scam
Updated: 2015-06-17 09:17
(Agencies)
|
|||||||||
The waterfront in Geneva, Switzerland, featured in a promotional video in a move to attract Chinese investors. [Photo/China Daily] |
Chinese investors have flown 5,000 miles (8,047 kilometers) to show up on doorsteps in Geneva and demand their money back. This has been the fallout so far from an alleged scam that its victims say robbed 29,000 Chinese investors of $1.2 billion.
They were promised returns of as much as 10 percent a month from currency trading by API Premiere Swiss Trust AG and associated companies, according to interviews with six victims and documents they shared during the past three months.
The money disappeared from their accounts in January, the investors claimed.
"We wanted to know the truth," Chen Biya, 43, an advertising agency owner in Beijing who flew to Geneva in late March with two-dozen fellow investors to try to recover their missing millions, said.
They sought redress at API's locked former offices, the public prosecutor and in meetings with lawyers. They then went to Bern and Zurich to appeal to the Chinese embassy and Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, known as Finma. "But nobody has been able to tell us the entire story," Chen said.
Unprecedented billions of yuan flowing from China and into investments around the world are creating opportunities for fraudsters, as well as legitimate money managers trying to get their hands on the cash.
The cross-border nature of the flows is posing challenges for regulators and crime fighters alike.
"Frankly, the law enforcement authorities tend to be focused only within their own jurisdictions and move deadly slowly on investigations," Steve Vickers, of Hong Kong-based risk consultancy Steve Vickers & Associates, said.
Geneva's public prosecutor confirmed it is investigating API and an associated company, Alpen Asset Management Trust Sarl. Both are described as "heavily indebted" by Finma, which initiated bankruptcy proceedings against them last month.
In January, Finma issued a public warning that API and Alpen were wrongly claiming to be licensed and supervised by the Swiss regulator. It came about 10 days after the investors said they discovered their accounts had been emptied.
- Ten photos you don't wanna miss - June 16
- Shaolin monks harvest bumper crop
- Cambridge students mark end of exam with boat race
- Village attracts tourists after first lady's visit
- Top 9 US-listed Chinese companies going private
- Hainan San Jose to Beijing: Ready for take-off
- Trending Across China: A Porsche gilded in gold
- Paris Air Show: From Bombardier's new C Series to China Airlines
Most Viewed
Editor's Picks
Premier Li embarks on Latin America visit |
What do we know about AIIB |
Full coverage of Boao Forum for Asia |
Annual legislative and political advisory sessions |
Spring Festival trends reflect a changing China |
Patent applications lead the world |
Today's Top News
China, US spearhead MERS fight
Key China-US talks
next week
Jeb Bush announces bid for 2016 Republican presidential run
China military says two more top officers probed for graft
Alibaba set for online video-streaming launch
China, US develop new MERS treatment
China to complete land reclamation of construction on some Nansha Islands soon
Military launches drive to root out corruption in construction projects
US Weekly
Geared to go |
The place to be |