Latest news with #investmentfraud
South China Morning Post
28-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Chinese man invests in cattle online for profit, US$140,000 investment ends up as beef
Unsuspecting people in Shanghai who poured millions of yuan into a financing app were shocked to discover that the only form in which they could get a return on their investment was beef. Police in the city's Xuhui district revealed the case to the public recently, and it was reported by the state broadcaster CCTV. A four-member gang that collected 500 million yuan (US$70 million) for their dodgy cattle-raising project over the past eight years was arrested in November last year. One of the unsuspecting female victims, above, sunk US$14,000 into the cattle-raising scheme. Photo: CCTV They were charged with illegal fundraising, said the police. The gang boasted that they operated cattle farms overseas and imported beef into China. One of the victims is a woman, surnamed Wu, who said she came to trust the app, the name of which is xuan min yang niu, which means 'all people raising cattle', after visiting their offline store in a high-end shopping area. Wu said the app offered her an annual return rate of 12 per cent. She invested a total of 100,000 yuan (US$14,000) in the project.
Finextra
28-05-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Over £1bn stolen by fraudsters in 2024
Criminals stole £1.17 billion through fraud in the UK last year, with a slight fall in authorised push payment fraud losses offset by a rise in remote purchase fraud. 0 Overall losses in 2024 were broadly unchanged from the previous year, according to figures from UK Finance. There were 3.13 million confirmed cases of unauthorised fraud reported, up 14% compared to 2023, and losses totalled £722 million, up two per cent. After falling in previous years, remote purchase fraud - where criminals use stolen card details to buy something on the internet, over the phone or through mail order - was up by 22% to nearly 2.6 million, with losses increasing 11% to just under £400 million. In contrast, card ID theft saw cases and losses fall back after a spike in 2023, while contactless fraud losses fell by one per cent, the first time a reduction has been reported for this category since 2020. Remote banking losses also fell by seven per cent, with cases dropping by 17%. APP fraud, which has dominated the headlines in recent years thanks to soaring losses, was down, with losses of £450.7 million, a two per cent drop off from 2023. The number of cases was down 20%, to under 186,000. The biggest amount of APP losses came from investment fraud, which occurs when a criminal convinces their victim to move their money to a fictitious fund or to pay for a fake investment. £144.4 million was stolen through this type of fraud in 2024, an increase of 34%, despite a 24% reduction in cases. Ben Donaldson, MD, economic crime, UK Finance, says: 'To deal with this threat, we need a more proactive approach with the public and private sectors working more closely together and using data and intelligence more effectively. We also need the technology and telecommunication sectors to step up and actually fight the fraud originating on their platforms and networks.'
Daily Mail
28-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Miami businessman fleeces millions from investors for lavish French wedding and extravagant lifestyle
A Miami businessman who stole millions of dollars from hundreds of investors faces a maximum of 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to a wire fraud conspiracy. Efrain Betancourt Jr., 36, a dual citizen of the United States and Colombia, admitted in a plea agreement filed last week that he defrauded more than 600 Venezuelan-American investors in the Miami area out of approximately $66 million through his payday loan company, Sky Group USA. Between 2016 and 2020, Betancourt solicited money from investors, promising high returns from short-term, high-interest loans to consumers, but, in reality, only about $12.2 million was used for those loans. The remainder of the funds was spent on company operating costs, sales commissions and Betancourt's personal expenses, according to a factual statement submitted with the plea agreement, the Miami Herald reported. According to prosecutors, Betancourt misappropriated more than $6.5 million for his own use which included money spent on a luxurious wedding at a French château. The former CEO put the large sum of money toward the wedding on the French Riviera, Caribbean vacations, expensive jewelry, a private aircraft and a luxury high-rise condominium on Biscayne Boulevard in downtown Miami, according to the Miami Herald. As part of his sentencing, Betancourt is expected to pay $8.3 million in forfeiture - a figure that includes credit card expenditures, according to federal prosecutor Roger Cruz. Cruz also indicated that six additional wire fraud charges against Betancourt will be dismissed at sentencing as part of the plea agreement. Betancourt has been in federal custody since his arrest last November at Miami International Airport after prosecutors argued that he posed a flight risk, with potential travel ties to Latin America and the United Arab Emirates. The former CEO's guilty plea comes roughly three years after Betancourt and his company settled a civil case with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). SEC attorneys accused him of using his payday loan company to defraud investors, and a federal judge ordered Betancourt and Sky Group to repay more than $39 million. However, according to authorities, investors have received no compensation since that judgment. Both the SEC and federal prosecutors described Sky Group's operation as a 'Ponzi scheme.' Betancourt sold promissory notes to investors with the promise of double- and triple-digit annual returns and while some early investors were partially repaid, most were not. The embattled businessman's fraudulent scheme collapsed in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic triggered mass defaults on the consumer loans Sky Group issued, causing a severe cash-flow shortage and halting investor payouts. 'He never paid a dime to resolve the claims,' Miami attorney Richard Diaz, who represents three victims of the scheme, said. 'My clients and I are looking forward to personally attending his sentencing to express to the judge the gravity of his greed and fraud, which economically devastated, not just hurt, many families.' According to court documents, Betancourt funneled millions in fraudulent proceeds to family members and associates. Cruz wrote that 'millions of dollars in fraudulent proceeds directly obtained by this defendant have disappeared, were funneled by him to his wife and other family members, and have otherwise been transferred overseas.' The SEC also reported that Betancourt transferred at least $3.6 million to individuals including his ex-wife, Angelica Betancourt and to EEB Capital Group LLC - a company whose bank accounts were controlled by Betancourt and his current wife, Leidy Badillo. The transfers were described as having 'no apparent legitimate business purpose,' In 2022, EEB Capital agreed to pay $2.2 million toward the judgment against Sky Group and Betancourt. Angelica Betancourt, who reported a $60,000 salary from Sky Group, also agreed to pay approximately $1.1 million toward the settlement. Angelica Betancourt, who reported a $60,000 salary from Sky Group, also agreed to pay approximately $1.1 million toward the settlement. Betancourt's sentencing hearing is set for August 14 before US District Judge Darrin P. Gayles where he faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
BreakingNews.ie
26-05-2025
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Decision blocking Irish investors from pursuing developer of Polish shopping centre overturned
The Supreme Court has overturned a decision that an Irish developer of a shopping centre in Poland could not be pursued here for a €6.3 million judgment obtained against him in Poland on behalf of 57 Irish investors. Last year, Michael Scully won an appeal over the enforcement of the Polish judgment here in the Court of Appeal (CoA). Advertisement But a company, Coucal Ltd, to which the investors had assigned their rights, then appealed that decision to the Supreme Court. On Monday, a five-judge Supreme Court overturned the CoA decision and said Mr Scully could be pursued for enforcement of the judgment here. Mr Scully, a Clonalkilty farmer who also co-owned Castle Carbery Properties Ltd which built the shopping centre in Opole, Poland in 2009, had appealed a decision of the High Court that a Polish judgment over the investment scheme against him could be enforced here. Some €48m was borrowed for the purpose of funding the shopping centre. The CoA allowed Mr Scully's appeal after finding that the use of Coucal, a Polish special purpose vehicle (SPV) company set up by the investors, which brought the case against him in Poland, represented "the commodification of litigation" which was clearly prohibited by Irish public policy. Advertisement The 57 investors alleged they were defrauded by Mr. Scully when he induced them to divest themselves of their investments in the shopping centre, on terms which were very unfavourable to them and very favourable to Mr. Scully. Those claims were denied. While proceedings against Mr Scully in Poland were initially unsuccessful, by 2021 the Warsaw Court of Appeal found that Mr. Scully had wrongfully and without authority purported to enter into agreements on behalf of Coucal's shareholders. It awarded judgment against him for some €6.3million. The Warsaw appeal court also permitted Coucal to bring proceedings in Ireland to enforce the judgment against assets he owns here, including a farm in Co Cork. Mr Scully then brought proceedings here against Coucal Ltd seeking refusal of recognition and enforcement of the Polish judgment. The application was brought under an EU regulation, called Brussels I Recast, relating to enforcement of civil and commercial judgments across the EU. Advertisement In the meantime, Mr Scully had appealed the judgment to the Polish Supreme Court which decided to make a reference to the Court of Justice of the EU relating to issues concerning judicial independence and impartiality and in particular the claimed lack of independence of one of the Polish Court of Appeal judges. Mr Scully's case here was rejected by the High Court in November 2022 and he appealed, winning the appeal in the CoA just over a year ago. Coucal then sought and was granted an appeal to the Supreme Court. In two separate concurring judgments on behalf of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Donal O'Donnell and Mr Justice Gerard Hogan allowed the appeal. Advertisement The Chief Justice said it was clear that enforcement of the judgment in this case did not approach the required standard for being an exceptional case in which recognition of a foreign judgment should be refused on grounds of public policy. Ireland Jury in Richard Satchwell trial told they can cons... Read More If someone enters a contract in another state, they would not normally be entitled to complain of the application of the laws of that state to either their conduct or their transactions, he said. The Brussels Recast Regulation normally requires enforcement of the judgments obtained in other member states without engagement with the underlying merits of the claim or the applicable law, he said. This is consistent with a high hurdle being required to be satisfied before enforcement of any judgment can be refused, he said. Mr Justice Hogan said in the circumstances of this case one cannot say that the recognition of the Polish judgment should be refused on the ground that to do so would be 'manifestly contrary to public policy' in this State within the meaning of the Brussels Recast Regulation. Advertisement He said his judgment was subject to the caveat that, while the CoA declined to adjudicate on this issue of Polish judicial independence, which had been argued by Mr Scully in the case, he now invited the parties to make further submissions on this issue.
Malay Mail
26-05-2025
- Business
- Malay Mail
Insurance agency manager loses RM695,000 in Facebook investment scam
KUANTAN, May 26 — An insurance agency manager lost RM695,000 after being duped by a fraudulent investment scheme promoted through Facebook last month. Pahang deputy police chief Datuk Azry Akmar Ayob said the 60-year-old female victim was initially asked to download a mobile application and register by providing her personal information before making an initial investment of RM5,000. 'The victim later received a so-called profit of RM900, which convinced her to continue investing. She went on to make 22 transactions amounting to RM695,000, using her personal savings and funds borrowed from friends, all transferred to various bank accounts,' he said. 'However, when the victim attempted to withdraw the full amount of capital and profits last Friday, she was unable to do so,' he said in a statement today. He added that the victim then grew suspicious and suspected she had been scammed. She subsequently lodged a police report at the Bentong district police headquarters yesterday. The case is now being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating. — Bernama
