| Boiler room scam netted $70m in UK |
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| Friday, 14 March 2008 | |
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US authorities have arrested a father and daughter involved in an investment fraud scheme.
The two duped thousands of mainly elderly UK victims into investing a total in excess of $70 million. They were arrested on Thursday by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents following a joint investigation with the US Attorney's Office, Middle District of Florida, the United States Secret Service, and the City of London Police Department. Hijacked dormant companies Florida-based Paul Robert Gunter, 58, and Zibiah Joy Gunter, 25, were charged in a criminal complaint for conspiring to commit and committing substantive acts of mail fraud, wire fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering. The conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment, while the mail fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years. The wire fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years and the securities fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of 25 years. The money laundering charge carries a maximum penalty of 25 years along with a fine of twice the gross gain to the defendants or twice the gross loss to the victims, whichever is greater. From at least as early as the spring of 2005 through the present, the Gunters and others engaged in a securities fraud scheme in which they hijacked the identities of dormant, publicly-traded companies. The Gunters sold virtually worthless shares of stock in the companies to victim-investors in the UK through high pressure and misleading sales techniques. They persuaded victim-investors to wire their investment funds from the United Kingdom to bank accounts in Florida and pocketed the money. Callous disregard The investigation revealed that the conspirators used approximately 54 publicly traded shell companies as part of their scam. Investigators estimate that victim-investors have wired in excess of $70 million to the conspirators. Robert Weber, ICE special agent-in-charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Tampa, said, "These two criminals demonstrated a callous disregard for the hard earned money of individuals who thought that they were legitimately investing in their futures." DCI Robert Wishart, head of the Money Laundering Unit at the City of London Police, said that the arrests were part of an ongoing investigation into a mass marketing crime scam known as boiler room fraud. Thousands of British people have fallen victim to this crime. Wishart estimated that in this single case alone around 15,000 mostly elderly people had lost money. "Cooperation between law enforcement at all levels has allowed us to focus our resources and respond quickly to uncover and prevent criminal activity such as this type of financial fraud," said John Joyce of the Secret Service's Tampa Field Office. Related articles
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