A British fund manager has vanished after an alleged $200 million ponzi scheme.
Joe Lewis, 59, of JL Trading wrote an email to clients two weeks ago and admitted that since 2009 he hasn’t been trading at his fund but continued accepting client funds.
In the email sent on Dec 3, Mr Lewis wrote:
“Dear investor, I am writing to inform you that JL Trading is ceasing to carry on business. Contrary to the impression that I have hitherto given, the business has lost almost all of its assets, and there appears no prospect of those assets being recouped.
“JL Trading ceased foreign exchange trading in 2009 following substantial losses and since that time the business has suffered further losses, which I have tried to make good through investments in a number of commercial projects. However, it is now clear that the business will not be able to recover its losses and must cease trading. This means that, contrary to what was reported to you previously, you cannot expect any payments in the future.
“I can only apologise unreservedly for any losses or unfulfilled expectations of profit. I have tried to recover the position for a considerable period of time, but it is now clear that I will be unable to do so. I sincerely regret that I have not been able to do better on your behalf.”
Some clients had invested as much as £1.2m and the minimum was £16,000.
We’ve all seen this story a dozen times before. If returns are too good to be true, they’re probably fraud. And while the FCA has sent an army of bureaucrats to collect billions from banks for moving the market 10 pips at the fix, there are guys like this running schemes for a decade and the regulators can’t be bothered to check the accounts.
