Six Arrested for $600 Million Fraud



01/28/2009 - MADRID, Spain — Spanish police arrested six people suspected in a $600 million stock fraud case in Britain, officials said Wednesday.

The National Police said five Spaniards and one Argentine were arrested on Jan. 21 in Madrid, Barcelona and the eastern town of Elche on a warrant from British authorities.

All six suspects have been questioned as part of an “ongoing investigation into certain individuals previously associated with Crown Corporation Ltd. (now Langbar International, under new management),” Britain’s Serious Fraud Office said in a statement. It said the suspects were aged between 56 to 76.

The names of the detainees were not released, and no charges have been filed.

A Spanish National Police official said the scheme was to create a bogus company, list it on the London stock exchange, use false documents and rumors to inflate the share price, then sell shares the suspects owned in the firm. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, in line with department rules.

A Spanish police statement said Britain’s Serious Fraud Office began investigating in 2005.

Source: Associated Press