Following the DFSA investigation into an Internet fraud in Dubai, the Malaysian Securities Commission in Kuala Lumpur yesterday made three arrests and froze USD 350,000 after finding a secondary account linked to the fraudsters. Two were released and one person is currently being questioned by Malaysian authorities. These actions were taken by the Malaysian authorities directly to assist the ongoing DFSA investigation.
The actions relate to the fraudulent investment scheme targeting Australian and Singaporean investors who were cold called by representatives of Cambridge Capital Trading, a fictitious London firm. Investors were directed to websites called the Dubai Options Exchange and a fictitious regulator, the UAE Commodity Futures Board. Cambridge Capital Trading asked investors to transfer funds to a bank account in Malaysia, upon becoming a client of the fictional exchange. The perpetrators took great care to construct realistic web sites, electronic answering services and a bogus facsimile in the UK to fool investors and to conceal their identities. The DFSA has confirmed that the billing address for the web sites is also false.
Civil court orders obtained in the Dubai International Financial Centre Court before the Chief Justice Sir Anthony Evans have now been served on the Internet service providers in the USA and Malaysia. It is expected that the websites will be closed down shortly with the cooperation of the internet service providers.
The DFSA is continuing its investigation, working jointly with ESCA and Dubai Police and our counterparts in the United Kingdom, USA, Australia and Malaysia.
The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) is an independent, integrated regulatory authority responsible for the regulation of all financial and ancillary services conducted in or from the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), including asset management, banking, securities trading, Islamic finance, re-insurance, and an international financial exchange. The DFSA has been created using principle-based primary legislation modelled closely on that used in London and New York, and the DFSA regulatory regime operates to standards that meet or exceed those applying in the world's major financial centres.
The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) is a central component of the DIFC, a new financial centre established to position Dubai as a recognised hub for institutional finance, and the regional gateway for capital and investment to the Middle East.
Mr. David Knott was appointed Chief Executive of the DFSA on June 1, 2005. He is a former Chairman of the Australian Securities and Investment Commission and was Chairman of the Technical Committee of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).
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