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The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) is very effective at detecting and stopping investment fruad.  It tends, however, to give less information than would its American counterparts.  In a press release issued November 13, 2009, the SFO suggest that it is on the trail of a major investment fraud.  The release reads as follows:

Early today (November 13), a search warrant was executed, with the assistance of Surrey Police, on a commercial property in Surrey.  No persons were arrested.

The fund targeted British nationals and other expatriates resident in Mallorca.  There were also investors in France, the USA and the UK.  It is believe that around 20 million pounds had been invested in the fund which was offering a guaranteed return of 20 percent a year.

This investigation arose out of a complaint from a member of the public.

From what little we can glean from the release, this scam follows the recent trend of being no respecter of international borders.  There appear to be victims in the US and in Europe.  We recently blogged on the scam run by Russian mobster Semion Mogilevich.  The “Brainy Don” ran a $185 financial fraud using a company purportedly headquartered in Newtown, Pennsylvania.  When it comes to financial fraud, it is best to assume that there are no meaningful borders.  There certainly is no tactic that scamsters will not use to take your nest egg. Remember that international investments are not “cosmopolitan or “sophisticated.”  They are dangerous.  Investor’s Watchdog travels worldwide to investigate prospective investments for wealthy investors.  We have found likely scams packaged as real estate investments, hedge fund investments.  You name it. We have also helped investors save millions that they otherwise would have lost to professionally-disguised scams.  IW will follow the case mentioned in the SFO’s press release.  We will post updates on breaking developments.

If you are considering an international investment, hire an investor protection firm to do an in-depth, on-site investigation.  It can give you comfort that your investment is safe from intentional or reckless misconduct.  It can also allow you to be part of the solution, exposing a dangerous scam before it can claim hundreds of new victims and millions in retirement savings.