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Swiss Mutual Fund Scam
Of late a new scam is brewing in the Indian Cyber Space. It is the invitation for an international mutual fund investment through the website www.swiscash.net. The scheme is offering a return of 300% p a and has attracted attention of many investors. Since the scheme also operates on the basis of 5% referral commission, advises are flowing freely from those who first become members.
We have been informed by some investors that ICICI Bank has been making foreign exchange remittances from intending investors. There are some investors who are also confirming that they have received some payment.towards returns.
Naavi.org warns investors that the scheme is a budding scam and India is a recent entry into the scam net. Hence a few early investors may receive payments. However the chain is likely to break soon and a large number of gullible investors will lose their hard earned investments.
The scam ahs already matured in Malaysia which is estimated to have contributed to more than 50% of the investments in this scheme. However Malaysian Government has now clarified that the scheme does not carry its approval and has also blocked the website. Swiss Government has also clarified that the scheme is not registered in Switzerland and is most likely to be a fraud. It is also reported that the website is hosted from USA and the address given on the website is false.
Visitors may peruse some of the documents referred to here in below for more details.
It is also clarified that though Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allows investments of upto US$ 50000 for individuals in equity shares abroad, investments in Mutual Funds where the investor does not know which shares are likely to be bought cannot be considered as an automatically approved investment under the scheme. There is every possibility that even a genuine investment of this nature may violate Anti Money Laundering regulations and hence investors should not invest in any foreign mutual funds unless they are approved by SEBI and are backed by appropriate disclosure documents. Investors who have invested in the Swiss Cash mutual fund may consider themselves to be in the same bracket of risk in which Dr Haneef found himself by lending his SIM card.
We urge Reserve Bank of India and SEBI to issue public notifications to alert public and also take suitable action against Authorized Dealers who are negligent of their responsibilities.
We also request internet promoters such as Sulekha Ads not to promote such schemes.
Naavi
July 20 2007
Clarification from Swiss Authorities
