A Class Action is the best way to demonstrate an Investment Scam

The features common to the majority of financial frauds are demonstrating to the courts that fraud has actually taken place and finding the money extracted from the victims by the fraudsters. 

Nearly all perpetrators of investment scams have a history of fraud and each scam generally involves targeting a large number of people. Except in the case of investment clubs, the victims are often unaware that there a considerable number of other people who have also lost money in the same scam. The ease of and relative safety of conducting a fraud online was swiftly recognised by fraudsters who lost no time in devising plausible approaches and maximising online advertising through social media platforms to promote their scams. 

Superintendent Sanjay Andersen, from the City of London Police’s National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, recently commented, “Reports of investment fraud have increased significantly since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, which is unsurprising when you think the vast majority of us have had to conduct nearly every aspect of our lives on a computer or mobile phone. Being online means criminals have a greater opportunity to approach unsuspecting victims with their scams.”

Frequently the shock of losing their money and the realisation that they have been deceived so easily coupled with the fact that they are well aware that they voluntarily handed over their money combines to create the view that there is nothing they can do to recover their lost funds. 

A class action turns the tables, the repeated testimony of the victims reveals to the court how they were each cynically targeted, due to their novice status and lack of knowledge of how the markets function and lured into parting with their money by a combination of fake friendship, flattery and fabrications regarding the huge success of their rising “investments”. All this, together with the fact that often the fraudsters use false names, makes it very clear that the whole exercise was a scam.

Once the fraud has been established and successfully prosecuted through the courts, the next step is finding the victims’ lost funds. It is no surprise to discover that both the scammed money and the fraudsters’ assets are well hidden through a serpentine route of off-shore vehicles created to prevent their victims from gaining compensation for their losses.

Joanna Bailey, an associate in Giambrone’s banking and financial litigation team, pointed out “it is beyond frustration for all concerned to come up empty-handed after extensive efforts are made to track down the lost funds” Joanna further commented, “however there is now another asset the funds from which can be applied to the compensation of victims following a court ruling that pension funds can be seized and paid out to victims of financial fraud.”

A former City trader, Nicholas Levene, set up a Ponzi scheme to fund his lavish lifestyle was the subject of a civil class action by a group of his victims. The Serious Fraud Office obtained a confiscation order relating to his assets which were assessed as £1. Whilst Mr. Levene had obviously managed to hide the majority of his assets but The Serious Fraud Office was able to apply for a restraint order in relation to Mr. Levene’s self-invested personal pension (SIPP) and the court ruled that the funds could be used to compensate Mr. Levene’s victims when the SIPP matured. The court decision has placed another asset in the hands of defrauded victims of scams. The lawyers in Giambrone’s banking and financial litigation team have evolved a number of strategies for accessing investment fraudsters’ assets.

If you believe you have been caught up in a financial scam and would like to know more about building a class action please click here.