Ghurkas’ plea to investors in £50m scam to come forward

THE leader of hundreds of Gurkhas who lost millions of pounds in a suspected fraud has urged investors to speak out.

Almost 300 Gurkhas, from throughout the UK, including London and the South East, Manchester and the North West and Yorkshire, ploughed £8.5m into a scheme with CWM (Capital World Markets).

In total more than £50m was invested by unsuspecting people across the UK – and the world – before being deposited in a Cayman Islands bank.

Investors had allegedly been told by those behind the scheme that funds would be traded on the foreign exchange market – and a 5% return each month guaranteed.

Following an investigation by the Manchester branch of law firm Fieldfisher however, it appears that very little of the investors’ funds were actually traded by CWM.
 
The leader of hundreds of Gurkhas, who does not want to be named, said the Gurkha community has been left shell-shocked.

“This has been a really tough period for all the people who invested in the scheme with CWM,” he said.

“We all have extended families in Nepal and a lot of those who have invested have grown up together in the UK.

“The people who lured us into investing are not good people because we have lost a lot of money and our pride too.”

He added: “Not all of the investors from the Gurkha community can speak good English. Sadly, though, I was one of the people to invest money in the scheme because I believed in it.

“I have served in the Army for many years and still do. I also have a wife and children and it has affected us greatly.

“I just hope things will be put right now so we can get on with things as best we can. But we need as many people who invested with CWM to come forward.”

Comments from the Gurkha community come after City of London Police raided CWM’s premises in London on March 3 last year, arresting 15 people – including the company’s founder and controller – on suspicion of fraud related offences. They were all later released on bail.

Fieldfisher, which is seeking to recover losses incurred in the scheme through a class action, say a total of more than 600 people invested in it.

Partner at the law firm Ian Austin also said all that is left from the £50m of deposits is around £1.3m.

He also said Fieldfisher has gathered almost 300 claimants so far, who lost around £20m combined in the scheme.

“The claimants that we currently represent have lost around £20m and while some of the individuals have deep pockets, a number do not,” he said.

“CWM published daily videos to investors reporting on the FX markets. And although CWM appeared to have trading desks at its offices, which were shown to potential investors to encourage them to invest, little trading took place and the trading screens ran only demonstration software.”

London-based CWM sponsored sports outfits including Chelsea Football Club, Wigan Warriors Rugby Club, Barry McGuigan Boxing, Monaco-based Honda Motorcycle, as well as the 2015 ‘CWM FX London Boat Show’. All have since dropped their association with the company.
City of London Police have been probing CWM since the end of 2014.

CWM, however, was formed in October 2013, with the investment product being offered to potential investors up to a year earlier.
 
Following last year’s raid of CWM’s office in Heron Tower in central London, detectives, supported by the Financial Conduct Authority, also seized computers and documents.

Detective Chief Inspector Dave Manley said: “The harm this has caused families, their pension pots and life savings – at the moment is not being represented within the case.

The story of how this has impacted and affected people needs to be told in the judicial process.
 
“It would be a shame for us to get to the next stage, and the level of harm that’s been caused to the community is not measured or part of the case.”

DCI Manley also said City of London Police are keen to hear from more members of the Gurkha and Nepalese community who have put money into CWM’s managed fund that was offering a 5 per return per month.

He said those who get in contact will be dealt with sensitively and any information shared will be handled confidentially.

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