Canadian accused in penny stock fraud caught in Thailand

[shrimpythailand]

my 26 yrs in Vancouver... way back the VST had tons of penny stocks... literally pennies per share... some real - lots were fake.... gold mines, all sorts of stuff... and some guys made large ... imagine say 5-10 thou invested or less and the stock goes from 5 cents to 20 cents or higher....easy money.... if it was a fake stock - well take the .20c or a $1 high from .05 cents and say "thank you"...thought they were watching it more but maybe not... but scamming 140 million is tough when you take someone's life savings.... and from a "real" stock exchange.... 5 5 5 sad stuff... but Wall st has been doing it for over 100 years and not many are getting caught... legal gambling .. except now in the 100's of trillions of derivatives.... with NO checking.... watch out for the next big Wall st. BS...

I know that I can google this, of course, but just for conversation purposes, why is it called "Penny Stocks"?

Because that is the cost of them.

Check the TSX venture exchange in Vancouver Canada.

They even have smaller ones like the one in Alberta.

[Maggusoil]

Clever enough to swindle people out of so much money but not clever enough not to get caught. If he is guilty I hope he never has another day of freedom again.

Seems a bit harsh to me, after all he is not a pedo, murderer or rapist. Think the punishment should fit the crime, for the most part peoples own greed got them in a mess with this fella.

I don't think I am being harsh. This guy and his associates stole the life savings from many people.

Their greed, if that's what it was, was not unlawful just a bad investment decision. What do you think an appropriate sentence should be.

That is very true. These deals are frequently aimed at people's retirement savings, well marketed and sold as investments. People just trying to boost their saving's income up a little from the banks is not what you would call greed.

What makes it worse, is it traps people who cannot afford to lose it.

[horsewell]

"Pump and dump" has been around as long as the stock market has (give or take) probably longer... it's just that the man says it's illegal. Maybe people should be less trusting and more cautious about these things. It's how many people got wealthy off the stock market before it was legislated against.

[MAJIC]

Clever enough to swindle people out of so much money but not clever enough not to get caught. If he is guilty I hope he never has another day of freedom again.

Seems a bit harsh to me, after all he is not a pedo, murderer or rapist. Think the punishment should fit the crime, for the most part peoples own greed got them in a mess with this fella.

And of course,when these Con merchants get caught swindling other people, we can say...."It's their own greed,by stealing that got them a long Jail Sentence" Live with it,and stop making excuses for merciless thieves!

[Loptr]

He certainly deserves the jail time he has coming; he was living in Yannawa, but had swindled people of $140 million - so either he didnt have much of the money, or he was not bright enough to live someplace decent with his ill-gotten gains - imagine living in that crap-hole!

Glad they got him and (most of) his colleagues.

Rather difficult to move $140 million around these days, especially if the FBI is breathing down your neck.

[Loptr]

Clever enough to swindle people out of so much money but not clever enough not to get caught. If he is guilty I hope he never has another day of freedom again.

Seems a bit harsh to me, after all he is not a pedo, murderer or rapist. Think the punishment should fit the crime, for the most part peoples own greed got them in a mess with this fella.

I don't think I am being harsh. This guy and his associates stole the life savings from many people.

Their greed, if that's what it was, was not unlawful just a bad investment decision. What do you think an appropriate sentence should be.

No, they didn't steal anything.

Why, because he played to investor's greed in order to get them to invest in crap equities? Pfft, investing is much like gambling. You place your bets and take your chances, although you do have more control over an investment than you do a wager. Any of those people that bought into his pump & dump schemes only have themselves and their own greed to blame. No different than Las Vegas where the house always wins.

I don't condone what this guy did, but if there weren't greedy people in the world, his scam would not have gained any traction.

[Bkungbank]

He had been caught once before for running boiler room and escape bail , hope this time he cannot run again.

[webfact]

Canadians named in US fraud case arrested in Thailand

NEW YORK CITY, August 21, 2013 (AFP) - Police in Thailand have arrested the last two suspects in what American officials are calling one of the biggest international penny stock frauds ever investigated.

In a statement Tuesday, the US Attorney's Office said Sandy Winick, 55, and Gregory Curry, 63, both Canadians, were apprehended in the Thai capital Bangkok where they face extradition proceedings.

Winick is the alleged kingpin of the securities fraud that is said to have bilked investors in some 35 countries of more than $140 million.

A total of nine Canadians and Americans have been indicted in the case. Six were arraigned in US courts last week while a seventh was picked up in the Canadian province of Ontario.

Winick, the lead defendant, was arrested Saturday, while Curry was collared Tuesday, said the office of US Attorney Loretta Lynch.

According to the indictment against all nine suspects, the defendants fraudulently "pumped up" the share price of worthless penny stocks and then "dumped" billions of shares of those stocks by unloading them on unsuspecting investors worldwide.

According to explanatory documents released Tuesday by the US Attorney's Office, the scam used social media to diffuse false information about the penny stocks, as well as bogus press releases and emails.

The indictees also allegedly operated "boiler room" call centers in at least four countries that induced penny-stock investors to pay advance fees that the defendants promised would enable them to sell their stocks and recover losses.

In fact, the fees were stolen.

"I tell you what, man ... hitting the Americans would be like taking money from a baby," one of the defendants was heard saying in an FBI wiretap.

Previously arrested were Curry's son Kolt Curry, 38, and Gregory Ellis, 46, both Canadians; and Americans Gary Kershner, 72, Joseph Manfredonia, 45, Cort Poyner, 44, Sonkram Roy Sahachaisere, 43, and William Seals, 51.

If convicted, the indictees face up to 20 years in prison for each count of conspiracy, wire fraud and securities fraud, as well as time behind bars for impersonating an agent of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the US tax collection agency.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2013-08-21

[webfact]

PENNY STOCK FRAUD
Canadian wanted in global stock scam arrested in Prachin Buri
The Nation

PRACHIN BURI: -- A Canadian was arrested in Prachin Buri on Tuesday morning over his alleged role in an international penny stock fraud scheme worth more than Bt4.2 billion.

Police identified the suspect as Gregory Joseph Curry, 67.

The scam's perpetrators reportedly received more than US$140 million (about Bt4.2 billion) from victims in as many as 35 countries.

Of nine suspects targeted by US authorities in connection with this scam, two managed to flee to Thailand, both of whom have now been arrested.

Metropolitan Police Division 2 deputy chief Colonel Jarern Sisasalak said Curry was the second suspect arrested in Thailand in connection with the scam. "The other one, Sandy Winick, was nabbed earlier by Special Branch police," he said.


-- The Nation 2013-08-21

[MaxLee]

And in the mean time the elite murderers of Thailand walk free as a bird

[uty6543]

Clever enough to swindle people out of so much money but not clever enough not to get caught. If he is guilty I hope he never has another day of freedom again.

Seems a bit harsh to me, after all he is not a pedo, murderer or rapist. Think the punishment should fit the crime, for the most part peoples own greed got them in a mess with this fella.

I don't think I am being harsh. This guy and his associates stole the life savings from many people.

Their greed, if that's what it was, was not unlawful just a bad investment decision. What do you think an appropriate sentence should be.

No, they didn't steal anything.

Why, because he played to investor's greed in order to get them to invest in crap equities? Pfft, investing is much like gambling. You place your bets and take your chances, although you do have more control over an investment than you do a wager. Any of those people that bought into his pump & dump schemes only have themselves and their own greed to blame. No different than Las Vegas where the house always wins.

I don't condone what this guy did, but if there weren't greedy people in the world, his scam would not have gained any traction.

Of course you’re right they didn't steal anything. They fraudulently relieved investors of their money. The investors had the expectation and right of receiving honest information about the shares they were buying.

[Tchooptip]

Clever enough to swindle people out of so much money but not clever enough not to get caught. If he is guilty I hope he never has another day of freedom again.

+1 Me too, bastards like that can ruined brave people, deprived anyone of an entire live's saving, may he rot in jail!

[jamhar]

Looks like the got curry's father in Thailand also..

Gregory Curry arrested after FBI tip off Thai police

The 63-year-old is believed to be part of global stocks scam

Police say he was staying at ex-wife's home

Two Canadians accused of scamming more than £90million from investors worldwide in a penny stock fraud have been arrested in Thailand, police said Wednesday.

Gregory Curry, 63-year-old native of Sydney, Canada, was arrested Tuesday at his ex-wife's house in Kabin Buri district in the eastern province of Prachin Buri, said Lieutenant Colonel Kanaphat Phahumunto.

'Curry has been living in Thailand for 14 years. His Thai wife told police he paid her 20,000 baht (£400) to find a place for him to hide and we found him on Tuesday morning at his ex-wife's residence,' Kanaphat said.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2398769/Canadian-pensioner-Gregory-Curry-arrested-Thailand-90m-penny-stocks-fraud.html#ixzz2cfx0Zk1w

PS on a different topic, its great how if you copy and paste a large section of a news article, it will auto scale the article AND insert a link to that article!

Nice job by the developers!

Edited August 22, 2013 by jamhar

[besth]

It's got to the point when anyone goes on the run, the only question any police force needs to ask is.......

" Whereabouts in Thailand is he".

And it's left to the Thai police to deal with the lax immigrations and police services in the west who can't seem to control their citizens or their borders.

And what's so amusing is that some TV experts insist that putting money in Thai banks or investing in Thai securities isn't safe compared to the regulated and highly ethical western markets.

The Thai police is in no way dealing with foreign criminals other than once in a while. Thailand (and the Philippines) are paradise for criminals who most of the

time will be able to live undisturbed, the majority of times, if they are found, will be able to buy their way out of trouble (the jury is still out on that in this case)

and only very rarely they will end up being deported to wherever they committed their crimes to face justice.

Putting money in Thai banks at the moment isn't such a big risk because the banks themselves, but because of the unstable, incompetent and unpredictable government (and the same goes for the alternative to the government). That's why so many times it is said that Thailand is a wonderful place to live in, but don't tie up in the country any resources that you can't afford to lose if something was to happen one day.

Let's hope that the justice system this time works and all who are guilty pay for their crimes.

[besth]

He was in jail in January and bragged on a wire tapped phone that he had bought his way out of jail!

So says the FBI!

Being caught twice proves that he has limited brains. Bad enough to scam people but not to keep out of trouble. Megalomaniac personality probably, needs to brag about it.

That he bought his way out of jail - was it here or in Vietnam? - just one more example of corrupt justice.

[Nickiboy03]

Seriously <deleted> is the central bankers doing world wide but printing money and propping up worthless assets to the herd.

Peace Out

[Nickiboy03]

Seriously <deleted> is the central bankers doing world wide but printing money and propping up worthless assets to the herd.

Peace Out