10 November, AtoZForex.com, Lagos – Hong Kong financial regulator, SFC Maxim Trader warning has been issued publicly. Notwithstanding this issuance is in line with the regulator’s responsibility of ensuring safety of financial operations in the jurisdiction of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). Maxim Capital Limited was discovered to be carrying out financial activities in the region for which it is not licensed to carryout.
The regulator has now taken action, resulting in the Court of First Instance to grant blockage of funds of the unauthorized investment firm. This includes freezing all its monies in Hong Kong, totaling approximately $23.5 million. The SFC discovered that Maxim Capital and Maxim Trader have received funds from over 130 investors, who have put in over $111 million in a number of investment schemes since 2013 that claimed to pay monthly returns from 3% to 8%.
Fraudulent misrepresentations
Initially, Maxim Trader returned profits to investors, but stopped payouts since July 2015. They then informed investors that their investments had been converted into shares of a company which appear to the SFC to be worthless. The firm made numerous fraudulent misrepresentations, including the claim that Maxim Capital was a financial service provider licensed in New Zealand and regulated in Belize. The firm operates via the websites: websites www.maximtrader.com, www.maximtrader.biz, www.maximtaiwan.com and/or partner.maximtrader.com
Funds Freeze
Approximately $23.5 million held in an account maintained by Maxim Capital with a licensed money service operator in Hong Kong has now been frozen. This order will remain in place until the trial of the firm and its core perpetrators is over, the date of which has yet to be fixed.
Multiple warning from different authorities
The Maxim Trader warning comes from many other regulators. The International Financial Services Commission of Belize (IFSC) also warned against Maxim Trade, stating that:
“We confirm that “Maxim Capital Limited” is not licensed by the International Financial Services Commission of Belize or any other competent authority in Belize to engage in Trading of Foreign Exchange or any other international financial services regulated by the IFSC.”
The Taiwan Bureau of Investigation also took steps with a Maxim Trader warning. The Taiwan authorities clarified that the company is alleged of swindling investors out of more than NT$3 billion (US$97.9 million).
Investigators are still assessing the full extent of the financial damage inflicted by the criminal organization and the trail of the money they had swindled.
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