Online Gold "scam" By An Australian

[david96]

Online gold investment 'scam': Thai police arrest Australian

September 21, 2009 - 7:53AM

A 64-year-old Australian businessman allegedly involved in dubious gold investment schemes in Thailand is being held in a Thai prison after his arrest last week.

Lance Frederick Shaw was detained at Suvarnabhumi airport on Tuesday on an arrest warrant over allegations of defrauding hundreds of thousands of dollars in an online gold investment scam.

Police sources said Shaw was being held at a prison near the resort town of Pattaya, 120 kilometres from Bangkok where he had been operating the online gold investment company known as Hiperfinance (High Performance Finance).

Thai police had refused to grant bail at a brief court hearing last week "due to the seriousness and number of charges against Shaw", reports said.

Up to six cases, involving up to 10 million baht ($370,000), have been filed against Shaw who had allegedly targeted Australian and British investors in particular.

An investigative report conducted by the Bangkok Post in August claimed investors had lost amounts of between $11,500 and $290,000 in the online investment company.

The reports said investors had lost homes, savings, wedding funds and retirement savings.

The company had advertised in the local newspaper luring investors with promises of returns of up to 20 per cent a month in property and gold investments.

Shaw has denied any wrongdoing saying he has also been a victim having lost $US20 million ($23 million). He has said he merely promoted the scheme and was not a principal behind it.

In 1986 Shaw was named by Australian media as the bankrupt proprietor of a petrol supply company known as the 200 Club.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in a 2000 press release listed Shaw as subject to an ASIC injunction for affiliation with Singapore Liason Priority, which allegedly ran a fraudulent and Ponzi-style property scheme.

Australian consular officials are expected to request access to Shaw later this week.

No date has been set for his next court appearance.

AAP

[soundman]

Story here. The Age.

Moved to PNC.

[PattayaBunLover]

This guy had to know he was wanted (by the police or "independent contractors") so why did he try to re-enter the country? dam_n...talk about a bad case of Thailand fever!

[miatai]

thailand is a universal ressssssssort for the world like coca cola is the universal drink in thailand too.

both have their appeals and non-appeals......for all kinds of people - the good , the bad and the ugly.

so is everything falling apart in thailand???????

(one may wish to relate this to thailand being a failed state too, like in another tread here)

just lock up the bad ones and let's see how thailand fares.......ozies and whatever, foreign and locals included......

[Changian]

I guess it wasnt just coincidence that he was featured on this weeks 'Big Trouble in Thailand' documentary.