Jamaican investors in Swiss Cash, the firm promising 25 per cent per month on US dollar investments, could lose their money as the Malaysian government has put a global block on all its accounts.

In fact, yesterday when two local investors tried to log on in front of this reporter, one investor found a large green banner across the Swiss Cash portal preventing access; the other investor who was able to log into their Swiss Cash online account showed a zero balance on the screen.

On June 21st, the Malay Securities Commission obtained a worldwide Mareva injunction against Swiss Cash. Investors who are still participating in illegal Internet investment schemes are advised to withdraw their investments immediately. Investors will not be able to access their accounts once these websites have been blocked, the Malaysian Securities Commission (SC) stated in a July 10 press release.

And the block is not just on the Swiss Cash Internet portal. The Malaysian regulators warned of blocking Omirror© websites created by Swiss Cash operators following the blocking of access to their main websites.

Swiss Cash, on its website, claims to earn an average of 2 per cent per day from high-yielding investments such as currency derivatives, leveraged buyouts and high-yielding debt paper. The company, led by Michael Mansfield, claims that investments of US$1,000 or more could earn a profit of up to 300 per cent after 15 months.

"My understanding is that the company operates on the basis of paying interest on funds deposited and on additional persons you are able to recruit. So there were people actively recruiting investors here in Jamaica," explained economist Cedric Wilson.

It has been suggested by financial analysts that Swiss Cash gained traction locally not only because of its high returns but because it appealed to investors who were eager but unable to deposit funds with the popular Turks & Caicos-based foreign currency trading firm. In fact, local high powered brokers claimed that they have been reliably informed that one of the two popular alternative investment schemes has a significant investment in Swiss Cash.

Said one broker, "People are saying that the entity can pay 10 per cent per month because they are collecting 25 per cent."

A highly placed source in the financial services regulatory community told Caribbean Business Report, "We hear that people have been sending their money to this company, but we cannot say how many Jamaicans have put money with Swiss Cash."

Reports coming to Caribbean Business Report stated that several Swiss Cash sales agents from Montego Bay have been holding seminars in Kingston to recruit investors. These sales agents were said to have done very well.

Even so, unlike the long lines of eager depositors that characterise the other alternative investments operating in Jamaica, Swiss Cash had its doubters.

Case in point: "At a highly respected unit trust and brokerage company, senior executives launched a private investigation when the company's bearers tried to encourage them to sign up with Swiss Cash. These bearers found a way to wire money to Swiss Cash and were trying to earn commissions from referrals. We went online and read the fine print. It said that once you put in money, you cannot get it back until Swiss Cash finds another investment to put the funds in. We then called the Swiss Cash number and it was disconnected," explained a senior executive.

A New Kingston boutique brokerage house sent someone to visit the Swiss Cash offices on 280 Madison Avenue in Manhattan, New York only to find an empty office space.

Wilson explained, "Swiss Cash, in terms of its introduction to Jamaica, came in later than the two established ones. Also, it is a very nebulous operation. There is no fax number and you can't contact them directly. Plus there is a lot of negative things on the Internet about it."

The Mareva was sought by the Malaysian Securities Commission following the filing of a civil suit against defendants Albert Lee Kee Sien, Kelvin Choo Mun Hoe, Amir bin Hassan, Dynamic Revolution Sdn Bhd, Swiss Mutual Fund (1948) SA, SMF International Limited and SMF (1948) International Limited.

These individuals have been barred from:

. carrying on the business of Swiss Cash,

. targeting, soliciting and/or collecting funds from the public for investments in Swiss Cash or any other Internet investment scheme, and

. hosting or operating the Swiss Cash websites or operating any other such websites which solicit investments for Swiss cash or any other internet investment scheme.

The Mareva also requires the defendants to disclose information pertaining to all their assets in and outside of Malaysia, the companies they have incorporated, and the bank accounts they operate.

When questioned if our local Financial Services Commission (FSC) was planning a similar action, the source at the FSC said, "Who would they hold on to? There are no Swiss Cash offices in Jamaica. It is all Internet based." FSC Executive Director Brian Wynter was unavailable for comment.

However, the FSC has, over the last few weeks, embarked on an aggressive media campaign warning investors to "Think and check before you invest."

Wilson noted, "The most the FSC can do is advise people as Swiss Cash does not operate under Jamaican laws. Besides, this is an outright Ponzi scheme, an outright pyramid."

Although one of Swiss Cash's business names is Swiss Mutual Fund (1948), it was set up in April of last year. In Malaysia over 50,000 people have purportedly signed up for the scheme. The Swiss Embassy in Malaysia has denied that its government had approved the scheme and also rebuffed claims that it was based in Switzerland.

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