39 people living in a number of
countries stretching from Iceland to South Africa have recovered some of the
money they sent to Marbella-based fraudsters as a result of Court action by
the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission.
In February 2000, the Financial Services Commission ("FSC") took action
in the Supreme Court of Gibraltar against Vanguard Equities Limited
("Vanguard") under Section 3 of the Financial Services Act 1989. The
Court has now agreed that defrauded investors should be paid back from
Vanguard assets frozen by an earlier Court order. The FSC took action
following a number of complaints from people who had been cold-called from
offices in Marbella, southern Spain, and who had sent funds to purchase
shares to a Vanguard account at a Gibraltar bank.
Investors who sent money to Vanguard, and who have submitted a valid
claim to the FSC will now receive over 55% of their funds back. Prior to the
injunction, money from the Vanguard account had been transferred to an
account operated by a related company, Procon International Ltd (Procon).
The FSC took similar legal action against Procon so that the transferred
funds were returned to the Vanguard account, increasing the money available
for restitution payments.
The FSC is pleased that the matter has been satisfactorily resolved, and
that investors will now be receiving a substantial amount of their money
back.
The FSC reminds the public that they should only deal with regulated
institutions, which have been duly authorised in the relevant jurisdiction.
They should be particularly cautious if they receive telephone calls or
emails from people they do not know. Another warning sign is the use of more
than one jurisdiction for no obvious reason to carry out simple
transactions.