FRANKFURT |
FRANKFURT Feb 19 (Reuters) – Frankfurt prosecutors on
Tuesday said they are probing two unnamed companies based in
Hamburg and Frankfurt on suspicion of involvement in a
triple-digit-million investor fraud scheme.
Around 1,200 investigators searched premises in the federal
states of Hesse, Bavaria and Hamburg and six prime suspects were
arrested, the prosecutor said in a statement. Around 50 people
are under investigation, the prosecutor added.
“This entailed the fraudulent acquisition and continued
violation of fiduciary trust of investor funds as part of a
so-called snowball investment scheme,” the Frankfurt prosecutor
said.
The mismanaged funds served to support an “extremely
excessive lifestyle” on the part of the accused, the prosecutor
said, declining to provide names of those arrested or the
companies involved.
(Reporting By Edward Taylor and Jonathan Gould; Editing by
Helen Massy-Beresford)