POLICE have arrested ten North-East men as part of a £20m international scam.
The investigation led detectives across the country and Europe and raids were carried out on homes in Sunderland, following reports that hundreds of investors had been conned out of millions of pounds in a telephone shareselling scam.
Twenty fraud squad officers from City of London Police worked with police in Northumbria to target the Wearside properties where ten arrests were made. The suspects have been released on bail.
As part of the inquiry, police have seized suspects’ assets, frozen their bank accounts and applied to the courts to take control of their homes and cars.
The man leading the inquiry, Detective Chief Superintendent Steve Head, said: “By working with UK and European police we have gone a long way to dismantling this complex and highly-damaging criminal operation and seizing criminal proceeds.”
The investigation centres on a company called BFS Corporation, which claims to be a world leader in the bio-fuels industry, has a London base, but has never traded.
Police said the “boiler room”
share-selling scam has affected hundreds of investors.
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