|
STOCK TRADING SCAM
28 July 2001
Brinton Group has long, shady history
The Brinton Group, whose staff was arrested on Thursday for alleged illegal global stock trading
operations, set up its Bangkok headquarters on the 24th floor of Bangkok City Tower on Sathorn Road
about one year ago.
The office housed several companies, all of which were registered with the Commerce Ministry.
Their salespeople allegedly used high-pressure sales tactics to sell overseas shares and investments and
reportedly duped middle-class investors out of millions of dollars. Most investors reportedly lost about
US$50,000 (Bt2.3 million) to $100,000 each.
Yesterday the Australian embassy in Bangkok was flooded with calls from nervous investors in Australia
who had purchased shares with the firms raided, some having handed over up to 250,000 Australian
dollars (Bt5.76 million).
The Brinton Group allegedly has a long history in cold-calling scams, having previously being based in the
Philippines and the Caribbean, and has sold IPOs (initial public offerings) and sourcing venture capital for
American companies and in Gary Player Direct, a company run by the famous golfer's son.
Sources said retirees keen to speculate in quick money were especially targeted. Tele-sales people were
well-trained and given scripts to talk to prospective investors.
The sales people often switched offices and used different names. Their operations used virtual
mailboxes, and leased telephones and fax machines - all of which made it harder for authorities to
gather evidence.
The money that they had solicited for stock investment was sent to bank accounts in Hong Kong. Prior to
Thursday's raid, as many as 100 clients found that they had been cheated, according to a source. Most
were from Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong.
The investors were initially lured into the net with reported high returns especially from shares traded on
the US stock markets.
They were asked to invest further, then the operation would move to another location - leaving the
investors in limbo. The two firms' 80 or so expatriate staff members were mostly tourists in Thailand.
Some were recruited from websites.
Peter Kell, executive director of consumer protection for the Australian Securities and Investments
Commission, or ASIC, said the scams had drifted from America and Europe into Asia and were now
operating in Thailand, the Philippines and Hong Kong.
"ASIC alone has received many hundreds of complaints, and so we would estimate that a lot more
people have been called (by scammers) than the number of complaints we have received," Kell told the
Australian Associated Press.
At least one operator had raised more than A$3 million from unsuspecting investors, he said.
Officers from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Australian Federal Police joined Thai police
in the Bangkok bust.
"We are pleased to be able to provide investigative support in this case and we anticipate long-term
investigative follow-ups," FBI agent Robert Cahill, legal attache at the US Embassy, said yesterday.
Representatives of Bangkok's legitimate broking houses were encouraged that Thai authorities had
taken action against the increasing number of boiler rooms.
"It enhances Thailand's reputation after being damaged by the emergence of these houses," said Bob
McMillen, chief executive of Seamico Securities.
"But I would like to see them follow it up and target the foreign currency operators who are hitting the
Thais as well."
Source:The Nation
Thai police charges eighty suspects in stock trading scam
Thai Police are looking for four other foreigners suspected of masterminding a stock trading scam, a
police source said yesterday.
Police believe there are six big bosses in the financial scam and four of them eluded police when they
raided two offices operating under the name of the Brinton Group and Benson Dupont Capital
Management on Thursday.
Scott Fisher, 34, an Australian, and Paul Hickley, 48, from Ireland, two of the six presumed bosses, were
among 80 foreigners arrested.
They have been charged with violating securities regulations and the 78 others charged with working
without a permit.
One of the four has been identified as John Kealay, an Irish national. The six also face charges of fraud,
the source said.
The 78 suspects were taken to the Southern Bangkok District Court for arraignment yesterday. Their job
was allegedly to persuade would-be investors to buy non-existent shares.
The two others were detained at the Crime Suppression Division pending further inquiries.
Diplomats were present during the questioning.
Following the round-up on Thursday, the suspects were held at the CSD auditorium under extra-tight
security.
Questioning proceeded with difficulty because of language problems, said Pol Col Surapol Thongprasert,
chief of the transnational crime suppression centre, who was in charge of the interrogation.
Public prosecutors, moreover, had told police to file charges against the suspects as individuals rather
than as a group, he said.
Patrol police ran back and forth on Thursday night between the CSD and the suspects' places to search
for passports and other documents.
Pol Col Thawee Sodsong, of the CSD, said yesterday Mr Fisher and Mr Hickley would face five years in jail
if convicted.
Thai court fines 78 foreigners in finance scam bust
Seventy-eight foreigners arrested in a raid on a company operating a lucrative finance scam were found
guilty of working illegally in Thailand and fined, police and court officials said Friday.
The employees at the company, which had defrauded Australian investors of
some 150,000 million dollars, were ordered by Thailand's Criminal Court to pay
5,000 baht (110 dollars) each for breaching Thai labor law by working without a
permit.
Six of the workers were charged with staying illegally in Thailand on
expired passports and given two month jail terms suspended for a year and fined
an additional 3,000 baht (66 dollars).
"The Court found the suspects to have committed wrongdoings of being
foreigners working illegally in Thailand, and although they confessed to the
charges the court would not commute their sentences," the judge said.
"The court ruled that they should pay fines of 5,000 baht each but no jail
terms," he said.
Their two bosses, Australian Scot Fischer, 34, and Irishman Paul Winder,
48, will be remanded in Criminal Court Saturday and investigators are awaiting
Australian plaintiffs to file charges with Thai police.
The two face charges of embezzlement, working illegally in Thailand and
working as unlicensed brokers.
Thai Immigration Police said they would screen the backgrounds of the
individuals in custody before releasing them.
Thai police arrested 82 foreigners in the raid Thursday on the company
where Australian, British and Irish nationals, among others, were charged with
involvement in the scam. Two other suspects were found not to be involved.
They were hired to cold-call Australian homes and businesses and persuade
them to buy non-existent stocks, with the callers operating out of two
locations claimed to be located in Tokyo, and the money was transferred to an
account in Hong Kong.
Police officials declined to confirm the identity of the foreigners caught,
or specify how many were from each country, but a spokesman for the Australian
embassy said at least seven of its nationals had been hauled in.
27 July 2001
Authorities send list of unlicensed securities firms to overseas SECs
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Thailand has sent a list of unlicensed securities firms
in the country to its counterparts in foreign countries to warn investors of exercising more care not to be
cheated by the stock dealing scams.
The list of 21 companies, which are suspected of running unlicensed securities businesses, were sent to
other countries' SECs today, said the news reports of T.V. Channel 3 and iTV.
"We want to warn investors, both Thais and foreigners, to exercise care before making any investment
decision", SEC Secretary-General Prasarn Trairatvorakul told reporters.
The move followed raids on two unlicensed stock trading houses on Sathorn Road yesterday by Thai
police, with the cooperation of the Australian Federal police and the U.S. Federal Board of Investigation
(FBI), arresting over 80 foreigners and 17 Thais, and seizing more than Bt1.5 million worth of U.S.
banknotes, as well as 35 boxes of documents, and 20 computers.
The two offices are Brinton group and Benson dupont Capital Management, which have been the
headquarters for securities racket spanning 70 countries.
Benson Dupont Capital Management may be part of a larger group operating under such names as Osiris
Asia Pacific, Strategic Alliance Corporation, Sigama Capital Management, and Drevfus Capital; while
Brinton Group ran affiliated companies identified as Irish Law Co., the Camden Group, the East Asia
Medias, the Alabama Engineering, the Pete Associates, and the ASY Express.
Prasarn Trairatvorakul, secretary-general of SEC, said the agency had received many complaints from
foreign investors that they had received "cold calls" from marketing officers of these firms, asking them
to invest in stocks and using high-pressure tactics.
After transferring money to invest with the companies, investors found it difficult to contact the firms or to
get their money back by selling shares.
Six unlicensed securities companies investigated earlier by the SEC have ceased operations. Criminal
complaints have been filed against two of the companies: Capital Advisory Corp and Antella Investment
Inc. The other four received warnings that they had violated the Securities and Exchange Act.
"Even when we really knew that they were involved in boiler-room operations, we could not arrest them.
They changed their names and moved to other places," said Dr Prasarn.
Police led by Pol Col Piraphan Premputi yesterday returned to the site of Thursday's raid at the Bangkok
City Tower on Sathon Road after receiving calls that some evidence had been removed from the offices
of the two companies.
"After an investigation, we did not find any irregularities," said Pol Col Piraphan.
He said that of the 85 foreigners arrested on Thursday in the Brinton Group and Benson Dupont cases,
81 had been identified as the companies' staff and the remaining four were released as they had only
been visitors.
According to directors at the SEC, the two boiler-room operations started with telephone operators making
cold calls overseas to potential investors, mainly in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong.
All the telephone operators were foreigners, pretending to be licensed marketing officers, but none were
licensed and many had no work permits. They followed scripts urging investors to invest in listed stocks in
high-profile markets such as Wall Street or London and promising high returns.
Investors are asked to transfer money for the investments to the companies' accounts, either in Thailand
or offshore. Usually they receive receipts but no share certificates. When they want to sell shares, they
are often urged to wait because the price is expected to rise further. Selling shares or getting money
back is usually impossible.
At the heart of the boiler-room operations is a large number of telephone lines and a switchboard, which
often routes calls to the scam artists' personal numbers or mobile phones. Investors often do not know
where the real office is, or if one exists at all. "When the foreign investors make a telephone call back to
these firms, they will find that they are talking to a voice mailbox or an answering machine," Dr Prasarn
said.
The 21 unlicensed firms are:
Bradford-Kempner Investments, Brooks Pearson, Crawford Peale, Delta Group International, Eastleigh
International, Fisher Sterling International, Fortune International, Gerson Lehmann, Gibson & Petersen,
Hudson International Group, One Dragon Pacific, Phoenix International Ltd, Price Stanley, Price Warner,
Sherman Brothers, Kensington International, Madison Group, Wellington International, United Capital
Management, Vantage International Management and Westwood Management.
- The SEC lists approved, licensed securities companies at its web site, www.sec.or.th. Investors can also
call the office of the SEC secretary-general, tel 02-256-7708.
- The Australian Securities and Investment Commission also has extensive information on unlicensed
traders, with real case histories, at www.asic.gov.au (click on "Gull Awards").
26 July 2001
Thai police bust global stock dealing scam
Eighty five foreigners and 19 Thais were arrested yesterday in a joint Thai-Australian-US police mission to
crack down on a global stocktrading scam based out of six different Bangkok offices.
Australian, British and Irish nationals were charged with involvement in
the scam, in which they were hired to cold-call Australian homes and businesses
and persuade them to buy non-existent stocks.
Officers from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Australian Federal Police joined Thai police
in the bust on the unlicensed brokering offices of the Brinton Group and Benson Dupont Capital
Management in the Sathorn and Silom areas.
The mission follows the culmination of two years of investigation into
complaints by securities regulators in Australia, New Zealand
and Hong Kong.
Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said in
a statement Thai and Australian Federal police as well as the
FBI searched the office buildings and detained the suspects,
seizing 35 boxes of documents, 20 computers and large amounts
of cash.
The firms are suspected by the regulators of being
unlicensed securities companies involved in fraudulent
activities against foreign investors, especially in Australia,
the statement said.
"The raids were conducted as a result of more than two
years of investigation following complaints from (three
regulators) that a large number of investors, especially
Australian nationals, have been solicited through telephone by
salespersons based in Thailand to buy shares in another
overseas market," it said.
"High-pressured selling tactics were allegedly used and
investors were then asked to send money offshore and had
difficulties recovering their investment."
Deputy national police chief Sant Sarutanonda told a news
conference that the syndicate was one of the world's largest
underground stock dealing scams and had stolen around A$300
million ($153 million) from their victims.
The SEC statement said the two firms, affiliated with each
other, had frequently changed their names and places of
business and had transferred large amounts of funds out of
Thailand raising concern of their involvement in international
money laundering.
The maximum penalty for fraud in Thailand is seven years in
prison. Trading securities without permission carries a maximum
penalty of five years' jail and a 500,000 baht fine, police
said.
List of suspects
1. Scott Prirembel, 29 (US)
2. Matthew Nutta, 28 (Can)
3. Steve Buchley, 37 (Brit)
4. Peter Frain, 37 (Brit)
5. Steven Sharpe, 42 (Can)
6. David Kelly, 26 (Ire)
7. Justin Beerling, 29 (Aust)
8. Malcolm Chambers, 43 (Scot)
9. Kevin Marsh, 31 (Brit)
10. Brian Gallant, 38 (Can)
11. Adrian Fobert Willis, 54 (Brit)
12. Peter Townshend, 33 (Brit)
13. Nathan Woods, 29 (Brit)
14. Herman Sudielson, 79 (US)
15. Richard Fowle, 33 (Brit)
16. Wayne Cardoza, 34 (Jam)
17. Paul Ryan, 32 (Ire)
18. Paul O'Leary, 31 (Ire)
19. Radolph Fitzgerald, 41 (Brit)
20. Sean Fisher, 32 (Brit)
21. Gregory Doel, 31 (Brit)
22. Shanvorn Assassi, 48 (Liberia)
23. Stephen Doherty, 30 (Ire)
24. Benjamin Davidson, 25 (Brit)
25. James Burn, 28 (Brit)
26. Scott McInnis, 26 (US)
27. Patricia Shaw, 31 (Aust)
28. David Karl Ryan, 28 (Aust)
29. Scott McGee, 31 (NZ)
30. Sian Gould, 26 (Brit)
31. Wayne Blandford, 45 (Aust)
32. John McGuile, 25 (Brit)
33. Steven Hooper, 28 (Brit)
34. Daniel Smith, 29 (Brit)
35. Setald Jacobson, 71 (Can)
36. Ronald Silvertro, 55 (US)
37. Edward Jackman, 67 (US)
38. Claire Dickson, 22 (Brit)
39. Homce Bradshaw, 32 (Brit)
40. Keely Smith, 24 (Brit)
41. Brian Paterson, 49 (Aust)
42. Cecily Destate, 32 (P'pines)
43. Roger Charles, 31 (Brit)
44. Alyse Penny, 20 (Brit)
45. William Seymour, 42 (Aust)
46. Chris Cowle, 33 (Brit)
47. Andrew Low, 23 (Brit)
48. Norman Hewitt,58 (Brit)
49. Bruce James, 43 (Can)
50. Graham Hewetts, 21 (Brit)
51. Neil Delahaye, 26 (Ire)
52. Ronnie Kywe, 23, (Burma)
53. Foo Chee Wai, 29 (M'sia)
54. Marina Diaz, 28 (Spain)
55. Matthew Davis, 29 (Brit)
56. Mark Iorbert, 34 (Brit)
57. Robert Peter Mooney, 42 (Brit)
58. Robert Frandsen, 28 (Aust)
59. Jonathan La Ourgmaini,29 (US)
60. Lee Mun Yoke, 30 (S'pore)
61. Jeanifer Angeles, 23 (P'pines)
62. Michael Scales, 26 (Ire)
63. James Ryan, 20 (Brit)
64. Rodoto Oampo, 38 (P'pines)
65. Neville Veia, 46 (Aust)
66. Junel Jubutay, 31 (P'pines)
67. Peter Bradley, 40 (Aust)
68. Yuth Chareen, 26 (US)
69. Michael Lavin, 32 (Ire)
70. OT Boutisia, 58 (P'pines)
71. Sudha V, 24 (India)
72. Davin Darpal Bajaj, 37 (S'pore)
73. Tod Maknowy, 53 (US)
74. Mark Kanforian, 38 (US)
75. Steven Lokomiwitz, 40 (US)
76. Patrion O'Gertiny, 30 (Ire)
77. Christopher Scales, 23 (Ire)
78. Kenneth Kamebod, 40 (US)
79. Graig Zucker, 40 (US)
80. Seamus Ryan, 25 (Brit)
81. Jason Rich, 24 (Brit)
82. CT Bautista, 34 (P'pines)
83. Scott Fisher, 34 (Aust)
84. Paul Hickey, 48 (Ire)
85. John Messey, 37 (Brit)http://www.mcot.org/stocktrading.asp |
