Johannesburg - The Ombud for Financial Services Providers (Fais) has recommended that the representatives of an allegedly bogus online foreign exchange (forex) trading investment scheme be investigated for fraud by the SA Police Service (SAPS).
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Fais Ombud Noluntu Bam made this recommendation in two separate determinations against Trading To Get Results and/or its representative Pierre-Louis van der Walt.
She said the SAPS should also investigate Quintus de Hart, a consultant with Trading To Get Results who signed some of the documents of one of the complainants.
Bam ordered Trading To Get Results and/or Van der Walt to repay Alvin Wilton Fildes the R38 223.17 he had invested in the scheme and retired businessman Solomon Johannes du Preez from Volksrust R104 950.
The two complainants were promised an annual return of 40 percent within the first 12 months after making their investment and the refund of the R4 950 registration fee if this growth was not achieved.
Withdraw
Both complainants were also assured they could withdraw their funds at any time without a penalty and given a written “money back guarantee”. Du Preez invested in the scheme in 2013 and Fildes in 2014.
Bam said Van der Walt owned 100 percent of the member’s interest in the close corporation and was by all accounts “the driving force” behind Trading To Get Results.
Bam said they had disappeared by the time her office received the complaints and could not be located at their registered and residential address but an email address was available for them.
Bam said letters were sent via email requesting them to provide the record of advice for the investments and proof that a needs analysis was done and compliance with the Fais Act but no response was received.
“This office is justified in making the adverse inference that respondent (Trading To Get Results and Van der Walt) was not conducting any legitimate business and had no intention of returning complainants funds,” she said.
On agreeing to invest, Fildes was given a document called “Your Trading to get Results Welcome Pack”. Bam said this was a copy of information downloaded from the Avatrade website.
She said AVA Capital Markets was registered as a financial services provider by the Financial Services Board in November and it was illegal for the respondents to deal with an unlicensed financial service provider in the unlikely event that the respondents did do business with AVA.
Highly risky
Bam said it could not be disputed that Trading To Get Results and Van der Walt had provided financial services and sold an investment product without the necessary licence, intentionally misled the complainants into believing they were licensed, failed to inform them this was a highly risky investment where all their capital could be lost and there was no advice record of why it was a suitable investment.
She added that there was no record of what happened to the funds and it appeared Trading To Get Results and Van der Walt had committed fraud.
Bam said the money was not deposited in a trading account with AVA and the respondents never accounted for what they did with the funds.
“The only reasonable conclusion was that they appropriated the funds for themselves with no intention of returning any amount. All the representations regarding the investment were false and were made with the sole intention of defrauding the complainants.”
BUSINESS REPORT