Forty-one-year-old
Anthony Constantinou, the former Director of a supposed forex investment firm, Capital
World Markets (CWM), has been found guilty of a £70 million investment fraud. Constantinou was convicted
in absential on Monday by a jury of the Southwark Crown Court, the Crown
Prosecution Services (CPS) said in a statement.
According
to CPS, a non-ministerial department responsible for prosecuting criminal cases
in England and Wales, the English court found Constantinou guilty of fraud by
false representation, fraudulent trading and money laundering. He fled during
the trial period which started in March, the prosecutor said.
⚖️ Anthony Constantinou, 41, former director of finance company CWM, based in the City of London, was convicted today of being responsible for an investment fraud of around £70m.
— Crown Prosecution Service (@CPSUK) May 22, 2023
Providing
details on the case, the prosecutor explained that Constantinou ran
Capital World Markets, CW Markets and other variations of the investment scheme through various corporate entities between
late 2013 and March 2015. The scheme, which was called ‘Managed
Accounts’, promised
investors 5% return on investment (ROI) or 60% ROI per annum for investing in “allegedly risk-free
transactions on the foreign exchange (FX) Markets.”
In
particular, the scheme asked investors for a minimum investment of £50,000 to
get back £100,000. It also assured investors that it could offer such high ROI
“because of special ways of foreign exchange trading that gave the companies
access to preferential prices.” However, these claims were false, the
prosecutor said.
“The
companies did not invest tens of millions of pounds in the foreign exchange
markets. They did not make a fortune and pay their investors out of that,” CPS
explained. “What was done was much more straightforward and fraudulent:
Investors’ returns were paid directly out of the investments, and the rest of
the money was spent.”
Furthermore,
the prosecutor said Constantinou splashed millions of pounds on the
maintenance of the reputation of Capital World Markets, including by investing
in sponsorship deals. These deals were designed to make the firm look
successful and also attract more investments.
Constantinou
also controlled
the Capital World Markets and its affiliates, including their key bank
accounts. As a result, millions of pounds were paid to the former director through these entities. Prosecutors seized a high-powered Range Rover and Ferrari cars bought by Constantinou.
“This has
been a long-running and complex investigation,” said Nichola Meghji, a
Detective Inspector with the City of London Police. “Anthony Constantinou is a
career criminal who is out to make as much money for himself as possible, with
no regard for anyone else.”
Meghji further
noted that Constantinou throughout the duration of police investigation made
efforts to deceive the police and continued to maintain his
innocence.
“In a
further move to deny any involvement in this case, he decided to stop attending
his trial,” Meghji added.
A
Ponzi-Like Scheme
CWM, a
Cypriot broker, was launched in October
2014 and
initially operated based on Leverate’s license until the forex technology provider
cut all ties with the
company in 2015.
The firm lured investors by projecting an aura of exclusivity through its
luxurious office in London’s Heron Tower, sponsorships of various boxing
events, and partnerships with
popular Chelsea Football Club.
However,
CWM’s operation came to a halt in March 2015 it was revealed that the firm
was the target of City of London Police’s raid on Heron Tower in Bishopsgate during which 13 individuals
who worked for the firms were arrested on suspicion of fraud by false representation,
conspiracy to defraud and money laundering.
CWM denied the allegations, saying it was “the victim of an orchestrated
campaign initiated by individuals motivated by personal animosity.”
However, police found that the company through its scheme targeted hundreds of
members of the UK
Gurkha and Nepalese communities, culminating in a potential scam worth an
estimated $72.9 million (£50 million) at the time.
CWM’s
parent company, CWM Group, was also linked to a massive $16
billion Ponzi scheme allegedly orchestrated by the Mauritius-regulated Belvedere Management
Limited. During this period, Chelsea FC removed CWM from its sponsors’ list.
Clients of
the company also filed a class action
suit against
offshore bank DMS Bank & Trust Limited. The investors had deposited about
£50 million into an account with the bank supposedly for foreign exchange
trading by CMW that will earn an ROI for them.
Who Is Anthony Constantinou?
Constantinou
became a business executive at the age of 24 in 2005 when he led AC Enterprises
Limited as Chief Executive. He would later run Aixia Limited (trading as
T4X Binary or T4X Signals) as a director. The platform was later flagged by the
UK’s financial markets regulator.
Over a
decade, Constantinou, who was sentenced to jail for
12 months in 2016 for sexual assault, ran 24 different companies as a director. However,
none of the companies survived as they were all later dissolved.
Meanwhile,
Finance Magnates recently reported that Cornelius Johannes Steynberg, the South African CEO behind a $1.7
billion retail forex and commodity pool fraud, was recently ordered
by a federal court in the United States to
pay a total of $3.4 billion. The amount comprises $1.7 billion in
restitution payment to investors defrauded of about 30,000 Bitcoin and another
$1.7 billion in civil monetary penalty.
BUX Zero rebrands; XTB MENA adds shares trading; read’s today’s news nuggets.
Forty-one-year-old
Anthony Constantinou, the former Director of a supposed forex investment firm, Capital
World Markets (CWM), has been found guilty of a £70 million investment fraud. Constantinou was convicted
in absential on Monday by a jury of the Southwark Crown Court, the Crown
Prosecution Services (CPS) said in a statement.
According
to CPS, a non-ministerial department responsible for prosecuting criminal cases
in England and Wales, the English court found Constantinou guilty of fraud by
false representation, fraudulent trading and money laundering. He fled during
the trial period which started in March, the prosecutor said.
⚖️ Anthony Constantinou, 41, former director of finance company CWM, based in the City of London, was convicted today of being responsible for an investment fraud of around £70m.
— Crown Prosecution Service (@CPSUK) May 22, 2023
Providing
details on the case, the prosecutor explained that Constantinou ran
Capital World Markets, CW Markets and other variations of the investment scheme through various corporate entities between
late 2013 and March 2015. The scheme, which was called ‘Managed
Accounts’, promised
investors 5% return on investment (ROI) or 60% ROI per annum for investing in “allegedly risk-free
transactions on the foreign exchange (FX) Markets.”
In
particular, the scheme asked investors for a minimum investment of £50,000 to
get back £100,000. It also assured investors that it could offer such high ROI
“because of special ways of foreign exchange trading that gave the companies
access to preferential prices.” However, these claims were false, the
prosecutor said.
“The
companies did not invest tens of millions of pounds in the foreign exchange
markets. They did not make a fortune and pay their investors out of that,” CPS
explained. “What was done was much more straightforward and fraudulent:
Investors’ returns were paid directly out of the investments, and the rest of
the money was spent.”
Furthermore,
the prosecutor said Constantinou splashed millions of pounds on the
maintenance of the reputation of Capital World Markets, including by investing
in sponsorship deals. These deals were designed to make the firm look
successful and also attract more investments.
Constantinou
also controlled
the Capital World Markets and its affiliates, including their key bank
accounts. As a result, millions of pounds were paid to the former director through these entities. Prosecutors seized a high-powered Range Rover and Ferrari cars bought by Constantinou.
“This has
been a long-running and complex investigation,” said Nichola Meghji, a
Detective Inspector with the City of London Police. “Anthony Constantinou is a
career criminal who is out to make as much money for himself as possible, with
no regard for anyone else.”
Meghji further
noted that Constantinou throughout the duration of police investigation made
efforts to deceive the police and continued to maintain his
innocence.
“In a
further move to deny any involvement in this case, he decided to stop attending
his trial,” Meghji added.
A
Ponzi-Like Scheme
CWM, a
Cypriot broker, was launched in October
2014 and
initially operated based on Leverate’s license until the forex technology provider
cut all ties with the
company in 2015.
The firm lured investors by projecting an aura of exclusivity through its
luxurious office in London’s Heron Tower, sponsorships of various boxing
events, and partnerships with
popular Chelsea Football Club.
However,
CWM’s operation came to a halt in March 2015 it was revealed that the firm
was the target of City of London Police’s raid on Heron Tower in Bishopsgate during which 13 individuals
who worked for the firms were arrested on suspicion of fraud by false representation,
conspiracy to defraud and money laundering.
CWM denied the allegations, saying it was “the victim of an orchestrated
campaign initiated by individuals motivated by personal animosity.”
However, police found that the company through its scheme targeted hundreds of
members of the UK
Gurkha and Nepalese communities, culminating in a potential scam worth an
estimated $72.9 million (£50 million) at the time.
CWM’s
parent company, CWM Group, was also linked to a massive $16
billion Ponzi scheme allegedly orchestrated by the Mauritius-regulated Belvedere Management
Limited. During this period, Chelsea FC removed CWM from its sponsors’ list.
Clients of
the company also filed a class action
suit against
offshore bank DMS Bank & Trust Limited. The investors had deposited about
£50 million into an account with the bank supposedly for foreign exchange
trading by CMW that will earn an ROI for them.
Who Is Anthony Constantinou?
Constantinou
became a business executive at the age of 24 in 2005 when he led AC Enterprises
Limited as Chief Executive. He would later run Aixia Limited (trading as
T4X Binary or T4X Signals) as a director. The platform was later flagged by the
UK’s financial markets regulator.
Over a
decade, Constantinou, who was sentenced to jail for
12 months in 2016 for sexual assault, ran 24 different companies as a director. However,
none of the companies survived as they were all later dissolved.
Meanwhile,
Finance Magnates recently reported that Cornelius Johannes Steynberg, the South African CEO behind a $1.7
billion retail forex and commodity pool fraud, was recently ordered
by a federal court in the United States to
pay a total of $3.4 billion. The amount comprises $1.7 billion in
restitution payment to investors defrauded of about 30,000 Bitcoin and another
$1.7 billion in civil monetary penalty.
BUX Zero rebrands; XTB MENA adds shares trading; read’s today’s news nuggets.
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- Source: https://www.financemagnates.com//forex/uk-court-finds-boss-of-fx-scheme-guilty-of-70m-fraud/
