Capital World Markets’ Run-Away Director Bags 14-Year Jail Sentence

Republished By Plato

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A UK court has sentenced Anthony Constantinou, 41, the former Director of Capital World
Markets (CWM), to 14 years imprisonment. Constantinou was found guilty late last month by the Southwark
Crown Court
of defrauding investors of £70 million through the fake forex
investment firm.

According to the Crown
Prosecution Services (CPS), a government department responsible for prosecuting
criminal cases in England and Wales, Constantinou was imprisoned on Friday
after the sentencing. The former CWM boss had absconded during his trial that started in March. However, last month, he was found
guilty, in absential, of fraud by false representation, fraudulent trading and
money laundering .

Constantinou, who ran 24 different now-comatose
companies during a 10-year period, previously served a year jail sentence in 2015 for sexual assault.

CWM was launched in October 2013 and operated under various similar brand names including CW Markets. The firm ran an investment scheme called ‘Managed
Accounts,’ supposedly to provide investors with access to ‘risk-free
transactions on the foreign exchange (FX) markets.’

The scheme promised
investors a 5% return on their investment or 60% ROI per annum. In particular,
the scheme asked investors for a minimum investment of £50,000 to generate
£100,000, assuring that it had ‘special ways of foreign exchange trading’ that
gave it access to ‘preferential prices.’

However, these claims
were false, the prosecutor said in a statement, explaining that CWM ran
in a Ponzi scheme -like fashion by simply paying investors from others’
investments and making away with the rest.

“This was a callous scam
targeting members of the public,” said Emma Beazley, a Specialist Prosecutor in CPS’s Serious Economic Organized Crime and
International Directorate. “Many people lost their hard-earned money because of
Constantinou’s greed and false promises in this fake investment scheme.”

In 2015, clients of CWM initiated a class action
lawsuit against a Cayman
Island-based bank, DMS Bank& Trust Limited, alleging that they were
defrauded of nearly £50 million through a managed fund operated by the fake FX
investment firm.

CWM Targeted Minority
Communities

According to details
shared by CPS, CWM, which ran a luxurious office in London’s Heron Tower,
splashed millions of pounds on sponsorship deals including sports to make CWM
look successful and keep attracting investment. In 2015, it even signed a promotional deal with the popular English football club Chelsea. However, the
club removed the firm from its sponsors’ list after fraud allegations emerged against the company.

Troubles started for CWM
in March 2015 following the revelation that it was the target of the City of
London Police’s raid on Heron Tower in Bishopsgate. During the raid, 13 persons who worked for
the firm were rounded up on suspicion of fraud by false representation,
conspiracy to defraud and money laundering.

Although CWM denied the allegations, police later found that the company potentially defrauded hundreds of
members of the UK Gurkha and
Nepalese communities about £50 million ($72.9 million) at the time. CWM Group,
the firm’s parent company, was also linked to a $16 billion
Ponzi scheme.

In 2014, Leverate partnered with CWM. However, the forex trading technology provider cut all ties with the firm a few months later. The detachment happened around the
period of the Heron Tower raid.

Constantinou, who ran 24 different now-comatose
companies during a 10-year period, previously served a year jail sentence in 2015 for sexual assault.

CWM Targeted Minority
Communities

In 2014, Leverate partnered with CWM. However, the forex trading technology provider cut all ties with the firm a few months later. The detachment happened around the
period of the Heron Tower raid.