RP police arrest 23 in securities fraud case<\/p>\n
MANILA (AP): Police arrested 23 people on Tuesday, including
\neight foreigners, allegedly involved in a securities fraud, the
\nsecond such group to be busted in a month.<\/p>\n
Police and agents from the immigration bureau and the
\nSecurities and Exchange Commission raided an office where the
\ngroup operated in Manila's financial district of Makati city,
\nsaid Chief Superintendent Nestorio Gualberto, head of the
\nnational police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.<\/p>\n
Gualberto said the group, which includes Americans, Canadians
\nand Britons, allegedly sold non-existing stocks. He gave no other
\ndetails.<\/p>\n
Jose Gutierrez, chief of the southern police district office,
\nsaid the arrests of the officers and staff of the Goldberg and
\nPartners Inc. followed six months of surveillance.<\/p>\n
Gualberto said the group was engaged in a "boiler room"
\noperation similar to another one busted July 11, the Evergreen
\nConsulting Corp\/AEC Ventures Inc., which had been in business for
\na year, selling financial instruments using high-pressure
\ntelephone tactics.<\/p>\n
Police then arrested one Filipino and 14 foreigners, including
\nAmericans, Britons, a Canadian and an Australian.<\/p>\n
The National Bureau of Investigation said it estimates there
\nare about 150 "boiler rooms" operating in the Philippines.<\/p>\n
In February, police raided another boiler room, also in
\nMakati, arresting 14 foreigners on suspected fraudulent stock
\nsales.<\/p>\n
The identities of those arrested Tuesday were not immediately
\nreleased by police.<\/p>\n
In a related development in Bangkok, at least 63 of the 80
\nforeigners arrested in raids last week on "boiler room" stock
\ntrading companies would be deported Tuesday, a senior Thailand
\nimmigration officer said.<\/p>\n
Most of the others are expected to be deported from Thailand
\nwithin a few days, police Lt. Col. Thira Osathanond of the
\nImmigration Department said.<\/p>\n
Police last Thursday raided two securities firms allegedly
\ninvolved in stock fraud - the Brinton Group and Benson Dupont
\nCapital Management.<\/p>\n
The Australian and Irish bosses of the two firms were still in
\ndetention. Police have said they would be charged with setting up
\nan illegal securities firm and face up to five years in jail.<\/p>\n
Seventy-eight lower-level employees have been fined for
\nworking without work permits. They allegedly made high-pressure
\nsales pitches over the phone to convince would-be investors in
\nAustralia and New Zealand to purchase shares in shaky or
\nnonexistent companies.<\/p>\n
Police couldn't give full details about the nationalities of
\nthe foreigners to be deported Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Those fined for working without permits included 8 Americans,
\n32 Britons, 5 Canadians, 10 Irish, 9 Australians, 6 Filipinos, 2
\nSingaporeans, a New Zealander, a Malaysian, a Spaniard, an
\nIndian, a Myanmar citizen and a Jamaican.<\/p>\n
Thai authorities have warned that 21 other "boiler room"
\ncompanies are operating in Bangkok. Such scams have reportedly
\ndrifted from America and Europe into Asia and were now operating
\nin Thailand, the Philippines and Hong Kong.<\/p>",
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