|
 Today,
two pieces of common sense advice on those "tempting"
investment deals.
1.
From U.S. Attorney John Suthers, District of Colorado:
"The best protection for potential investors
is to understand that HIGH YIELDS and LOW RISK
are NOT typically found in the same investment."
2.
And from Denver FBI Special Agent in Charge Phillip
Reid: "The investing public should
be warned ... that if they are offered LONG-TERM
FULLY PROTECTED INVESTMENTS ... promising UNBELIEVABLE
RATES OF RETURN, ... be SUSPICIOUS."
These two law enforcement officials are
adamant for a reason: last week, in their
jurisdiction, seven individuals were charged with
conducting a "gigantic" investment scam
that defrauded more than 1,000 investors worldwide
out of $56 million.
Just
so you know what to beware, this is how the scheme
worked:
-
Investors were promised monthly returns of up
to 400 percent by companies with official sounding
names like "Capital Holdings" and
"Reserve Foundation Trust";
-
They were sent fake financial statements showing
grossly inflated earnings; and
-
They were told their money was "safe"
and insured from loss by high profile insurance
companies and were given legal sounding documents
to back it up.
It
was a huge scam, and it took an equally mammoth
effort to unravel the crime. Working
hand-in-hand over the past several years, criminal
justice professionals and investigators from the
FBI, IRS, and the State of Colorado Securities
Division:
-
Conducted more than 800 interviews;
-
Reviewed some 100,000 pages of documents;
-
Executed search warrants in four different states;
-
Called on the help of seven different countries,
including authorities in Great Britain, Canada,
New Zealand, Australia, and the West Indies
island of St. Vincent; and
-
Seized 60 bank accounts, 8 NASCAR race cars,
and $24 million in assets, including a castle
in the Colorado mountains.
Final
words of advice. Until we stop investigating
cases like this, we can never say it often enough:
"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably
is."
Related
links: Press
Release | FBI's
Securities/Commodities Fraud website
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