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Thursday, 27 November 2008
British Stockbroker Jailed for Laundering
A British stockbroker was jailed yesterday for laundering about HK$680 million allegedly generated from a “boiler-room” fraud operation based in Britain.
A British stockbroker was jailed yesterday for laundering about HK$680 million allegedly generated from a “boiler-room” fraud operation based in Britain.
Judge Joseph Yau Chi-lap in the District Court sentenced Jerome Hertzberg, 38, to three years and four months in jail after he pleaded guilty on November 24 to five charges of handling illegal proceeds.
The Hong Kong Commercial Crime Bureau said it was believed that thousands of investors, mainly elderly people in the UK, had fallen victim to the boiler-room investment scheme, in which they were lured into making payments for illegal trades in shares.
Police said about 30,000 people every year were ripped off in such schemes, losing around £300 million (HK$3.5 billion) in Britain alone.
“The money involved in Hertzberg’s case has disappeared and has not been recovered,” the bureau’s Senior Inspector Nigel Williams said. “And these victims are aged from 52 to 83 ... We say Hertzberg’s role is important because without money launderers, the organisation can’t work.”
The District Court previously heard that Hertzberg had processed HK$680 million through four bank accounts he opened in Hong Kong between 2005 and 2007.
Evidence indicated that the cash came from share trading in Britain in breach of British laws because none of the companies selling those shares in England were registered to market or sell shares there.
When Hertzberg was arrested in June last year, 650 sets of personal data were retrieved from his computer. Hong Kong police contacted 53 of those people but only nine testified in the case against him. All nine said they had been contacted by people claiming to represent an investment advisory firm named as either “The Pricestone Group” or “Pricestone” or “Price Stone”.
They bought shares in “Pricestone” but were led to believe the shares were “restricted” and could not be resold for a couple of years.
2 comments:
British Stockbroker Jailed for Laundering
Yvonne Tsui
27 November 2008
A British stockbroker was jailed yesterday for laundering about HK$680 million allegedly generated from a “boiler-room” fraud operation based in Britain.
Judge Joseph Yau Chi-lap in the District Court sentenced Jerome Hertzberg, 38, to three years and four months in jail after he pleaded guilty on November 24 to five charges of handling illegal proceeds.
The Hong Kong Commercial Crime Bureau said it was believed that thousands of investors, mainly elderly people in the UK, had fallen victim to the boiler-room investment scheme, in which they were lured into making payments for illegal trades in shares.
Police said about 30,000 people every year were ripped off in such schemes, losing around £300 million (HK$3.5 billion) in Britain alone.
“The money involved in Hertzberg’s case has disappeared and has not been recovered,” the bureau’s Senior Inspector Nigel Williams said. “And these victims are aged from 52 to 83 ... We say Hertzberg’s role is important because without money launderers, the organisation can’t work.”
The District Court previously heard that Hertzberg had processed HK$680 million through four bank accounts he opened in Hong Kong between 2005 and 2007.
Evidence indicated that the cash came from share trading in Britain in breach of British laws because none of the companies selling those shares in England were registered to market or sell shares there.
When Hertzberg was arrested in June last year, 650 sets of personal data were retrieved from his computer. Hong Kong police contacted 53 of those people but only nine testified in the case against him. All nine said they had been contacted by people claiming to represent an investment advisory firm named as either “The Pricestone Group” or “Pricestone” or “Price Stone”.
They bought shares in “Pricestone” but were led to believe the shares were “restricted” and could not be resold for a couple of years.
There is obviously a lot to consider about this. But I think you made some good points in discussing the topic.
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