2005-09-08 19:42 Police today (September 8) arrested eight men and seven women suspected to be connected with a Loco-London Silver case involving $13.5 million. Police received reports that three companies in Wan Chai and Tsim Sha Tsui were suspected of deceiving its staff members by luring them to invest in fictitious Loco-London Silver margin trades. Following extensive investigations, Commercial Crime Bureau (CCB) officers took action from 6 am today and arrested eight men and seven women, aged between 23 and 51, at various locations throughout the territory. Enquiries revealed that from August 1998 to February 2000, the fraud syndicate advertised on newspapers to lure applicants for clerical positions. Fifty-one jobseekers were being recruited in three companies located in Tsim Sha Tsui and Wan Chai. They were later enticed into investing in Loco-London Silver trading with a range from $0.1 to $1.2 million, resulting in a total loss of $13.5 million. The 15 persons arrested will be charged with conspiracy to defraud and will appear in the Eastern Magistrates' Courts tomorrow (September 9). Police remind job seekers to be cautious when they are encouraged by employers to invest with their own money for the purpose of securing job offers. Since 1999, a total of 212 people have been convicted of offences related to Loco-London Gold or Silver investment fraud and have been sentenced to imprisonment up to eight years and four months. CCB has coordinated a Forcewide effort, with the assistance of Regions and Districts, in taking a series of strategic enforcement action against the perpetrators of Loco-London Gold fraud. The stringent enforcement has effectively deterred this crime and there has been no report of such fraud in 2005 so far. |