The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced just yesterday that six men from both the U.S. and Switzerland have been indicted in Nevada for selling fraudulent investments and stealing a suspected $5.6 million from investors. The scheme involved taking cash from unsuspecting investors, telling them their money was being placed into high-yield securities from Europe, but instead pocketing the money for themselves.
The indictment alleges that this scheme lasted four years. So far, 12 individuals have been named as victims, although court documents have only released the victims’ initials. Losses per investor range anywhere from $200,000 to over $1 million.
The six recently-indicted men promoted their fraudulent investment using Malom Group AG, a Swiss investment firm. To give credence to the scheme, the men produced fraudulent documents from major banks in Europe like UBS, HSBC and Deutsche Bank.
Some investors began to raise suspicions, and some even publicly posted complaints online, but the fraudsters threatened lawsuits and never followed through on their promise to give investors their money back, according to the indictment.
The names of the indicted men are:
- Anthony Brandel – Director of MY Consultants Inc.
- Joseph Micelli – Posed as Malom Group’s compliance officer
- James Warras – Director of Malom Group’s U.S. division
- Sean Finn – Malom Group broker in U.S.
- Martin Schlaepfer – CEO of Malom Group
- Hans-Jurg Lips – Chairman of Malom Group’s structured finance division
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted the criminal investigation into this case that produced the indictment while the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigated the civil aspect of this case.
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The “Malom” in Malom Group literally stands for “Make a Lot of Money.” These types of get rich quick schemes promise excessively high yields in a short amount of time. Beware of these types of investment pitches. They are often scams. If you lost a substantial amount of money due to an investment scheme like Malom Group’s, contact an investment and securities fraud lawyer at Meyer Wilson today. Our firm pursues investor claims and class actions in cases of investment misconduct.
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