Fraudulent firm crushed

[Otherside]

Fraudulent firm crushed

2015/05/28 23:24:39

Taipei, May 28 (CNA) The Bureau of Investigation under the Ministry of Justice on Thursday crushed the Maxim Trader Group, a bogus firm that posed as a financial institution affiliated to a Nasdaq-listed international holding company and allegedly swindled more than NT$3 billion (US$97.9 million) from investors.

Investigators summoned a women surnamed Chang (張) who had served as the president of the paper company's Taiwan office, as well as 10 other suspects.

Raids on 16 locations used by the company by nearly 60 investigators resulted in the seizure of about NT$60 million in cash, a Maserati and a Bentley automobile, a portfolio of real estate deeds and bank accounts and a collection of jewelry.

Investigators are still assessing the amount of financial damage inflicted by the criminal organization, and the trail of the money they had swindled.

In 2013, Chang began advertising the company as an affiliate of a Nasdaq-listed international holding company specializing in mining, foreign exchange and commodities trading to prop up its image as a notable international financial institution, according to investigators.

The front company quickly amassed a large number of investors through direct marketing schemes and events and by promising high returns.

Chang had promised investors monthly returns ranging from 3 to 8 percent if they agreed to put forth capital investment subscriptions between US$30,000 to US$1 million for no longer than 18 months.

Investigators also discovered that the front company's operations extended to Indonesia, Macau, Singapore and Malaysia.

The front company was able to quickly draw in a large number of victims because they employed a pyramid scheme by luring current members to draw in their friends and family with prize money.

(By Liu Shih-yi and Ted Chen)