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To: Enigma who wrote (23385)	11/24/1998 10:00:00 PM
From: Alex	Respond to of 116791

Five firms raided in $9m gold trade probe CLIFFORD LO Five investment companies suspected of being involved in a gold trading scam that netted almost $9 million were raided by police yesterday. Police staged the raid after receiving complaints of fraud involving the firms and 52 victims who lost a total of $8.92 million. About 70 police officers in five teams raided the firms' offices in Wan Chai and seized transaction records and other documents. Company representatives were later said to be helping police with their inquiries. Senior Inspector Suen Wa-hing said victims were first attracted to work for the firms as clerks or in other posts and offered a basic monthly salary of up to $10,000. "Applicants were asked to take an investment course and then trained in monitoring the London gold market," he said. They were later persuaded to invest in the London gold market by company staff and to sign contracts authorising the firms to make transaction decisions for them," Mr Suen said. "The victims realised they might have been duped after they lost all the money." Police said some company staff had posed as fellow applicants to convince the victims. Mr Suen said one victim, who lost about $400,000 in a relatively short period, believed the companies had pocketed the money. Twenty-five newly recruited staff were due to attend a training course when police raided one of the five companies in Russell Street. Officers said the five firms targeted people aged between 20 and 50 with different backgrounds. Back To Top scmp.com