"US Duo Plead Guilty to $30m Forex Fraud Scheme"

Two US men have recently pleaded guilty to defrauding online investors out of tens of millions of dollars in a foreign exchange (forex) scheme dating back a decade.  Patrick Gallagher, 44, of Middleborough, Massachusetts, and Michael Dion, 49, of Orlando, Florida, were behind the scam.  According to the Department of Justice (DoJ), they created a fake company, Global Forex Management, and lured investors with promises of significant returns based on previous trading results that they had fabricated.  Investors were told their funds would be traded via a partner company, IB Capital, which was actually run by a co-conspirator.  The DoJ noted that in May 2012, Gallagher and Dion executed their scheme by intentionally creating losing trades for the investors and effectively stole $30m from their victims.  After fabricating the massive trading loss, Gallagher and Dion routed the stolen money through shell companies they had set up worldwide.  The duo also worked with co-conspirators in the Netherlands to steal the funds.  The DoJ noted that investment fraud is one of the highest earners for cybercriminals.  Last year it made them nearly $1.5bn off the back of 20,561 reports to the FBI.

Infosecurity reports: "US Duo Plead Guilty to $30m Forex Fraud Scheme"