作者: williamxu 时间: 2009-4-1 13:24
Mar 28, 2009 04:30 AM
Madhavi Acharya-Tom Yew
Nicholas Keung
STAFF REPORTERS
At first, the investment statements always came on time with the 1 per cent return as promised.
But early this year, when some of Weizhen Tang's investors had trouble getting their money back, they demanded an explanation, and Ontario regulators started investigating allegations of a Ponzi scheme.
Tang, who bills himself as "the Chinese Warren Buffett" and "the king of 1 per cent weekly returns," is a prominent figure in Toronto's mostly Mandarin-speaking mainland Chinese community. He is believed to have at least 200 clients in Canada. In late February, Tang sent a letter to his clients, apologizing for "the sin that I had committed" but insisted that he did not steal investors’ funds.
"I know that only with everyone's supervision and assistance, I can repay everyone in around a year. This will be the most sincere form of apology," Tang wrote. "lease give me time. ... I have greatly abused everyone's trust in me. Let me use my actions to prove myself, restore your wealth, and amend for my sins."
Yesterday, five investors walked into Toronto Police's 52 Division to lodge a criminal complaint. They were told to return next week to speak with the fraud unit.
Their move comes just days after the Ontario Securities Commission froze accounts belonging to Tang, his companies, Weizhen Tang Corp. and Weizhen Tang and Associates Inc., and his investment fund, Oversea Chinese Fund Limited Partnership.
The freeze order, as well as a separate one that prevents any stock market trading, will be in place at least until April 1 while the commission continues its investigation.
Tang could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Reporters who went to offices of Weizhen Tang Corp., at the corner of York and Adelaide Sts., in downtown Toronto yesterday, were initially told that Tang would speak to them.
A spokesperson who identified himself as Dr. Guo later told reporters that Tang's lawyer had instructed him not to make any comment. "Mr. Tang is, of course, not a perfect businessman," Guo said. "The truth will come out."
"I can assure you that my client is co-operating fully with the regulator and that to date there have been no charges of fraud laid against my client," Tang's lawyer, Hugh Lissaman, wrote in an email to reporters.
At Tang's home, near Bayview Ave. and Steeles Ave., a woman who answered the door but did not identify herself said that Tang was not there. Asked for comment, she said, "It's too early to say anything."
News of the OSC's freeze order against Tang flooded Chinese-language news websites, blogs and chat rooms in North America, China and even Europe. Bloggers and columnists debated whether Tang was more like Nebraska-born investor guru Warren Buffett, who has an estimated net worth of $62 billion (U.S.), or Bernard Madoff, the disgraced New York businessman, recently convicted of running a $65 billion Ponzi scheme.
Kelvin Li, news director of the popular Toronto Chinese language website, newnews.ca, said Tang, who is 51, immigrated to Canada more than 20 years ago from China via the U.S. after postgraduate studies there.
"He is very high profile. You see him everywhere at Chinese community events," said Li. "He sponsored the largest Chinese New Year community galas. He donated money to help victims of the devastating snowstorms and Sichuan earthquakes in China last year. He was also very involved in organizing the mass protest in Ottawa against pro-Tibet demonstrations prior to the Beijing Olympics."
Li has interviewed many of Tang's investors. He said some of them are new immigrants with working-class backgrounds, who used their lines of credit and mortgage money to come up with the $150,000 minimum investment amount.
Tang also used the newnews.ca website as a forum to communicate with his investors and has published at least four public letters.
In one dated March 21, he claimed he had mortgaged his North York home for further investment.
"art of the profits I make, I can return the money to you. If the money keeps on rolling, it would be no problem for me to return the money to you. The key is to give me time, give me a last chance," he wrote. "Even if I have to be jailed, I hope I could at least return you the money first. That would be less pain for me."
That Tang may have been operating a Ponzi scheme — where earlier investors are paid returns using money from later investors, rather than any real profits — comes from documents filed by the OSC in court this week.
The regulator believes that about 200 investors have put approximately $68 million into the Oversea fund and $35 million has been paid out to date.
The commission began its investigation in February 2009, according to documents filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on March 24. Tang told OSC investigators that he traded stocks, futures, stock options, and foreign currencies, for Oversea.
Investors signed an agreement that Tang would charge no fees for returns of six per cent or less; "However, for returns above six per cent, Tang would charge a 25 per cent 'incentive fee,'." the documents read.
According to one investor, "Tang advised him that new investor money is being paid out to old investors and admitted there was no money left at this time in Oversea," the filing says.
Tang also admitted to losing $15 million in 2007 but did not report this to Oversea's investors.
"Tang stated that investors in Oversea are owed about $30 million," according to the documents.
The commission asks the Ontario court to issue a cease-trade order in cases where investors may be at risk, said Kelley McKinnon, partner at Gowling Lafleur Henderson, former deputy director of enforcement and former chief litigation counsel at the OSC. "The commission orders a temporary cease-trade when they have some evidence of illegal activity and a risk of ongoing harm so they want to stop trading while they continue to investigate," she said.
The documents also show that Tang's wife, Hong Xiao is listed as an officer and director with Weizhen Tang and Associates.
Xiao received a 10-year suspension and was ordered to pay a $45,000 (Canadian) fine by another regulatory agency, the Investment Dealers Association, in July 2004 for two counts of conduct unbecoming or detrimental to the public interest. She was also ordered to repay another $5,000 in commissions.
Tang is registered as a limited market dealer. Neither company is registered as an investment counsellor or portfolio manager in Ontario.
His last letter to clients, dated March 25, begins "How difficult is it for a person who has sinned and lost all trust to stand up again? Because I cannot timely return your investments, I have caused you great pain."
It goes on: "I sincerely request that I be given another chance merely for the sake of recovering your hard-earned money and reviving the honour of overseas Chinese. A re-emerged Weizhen Tang will be in the best interest of all of you."
The letter ends with a promise: "Within two months, a new Tang Weizhen will emerge! You will certainly receive my first repayment! At that time, the whole society will witness the cheers or accusations!"
In extensive material on the company's website, Tang says that he uses his years of experience in the stock market and uses stock indices, foreign exchanges and futures for "reliable short-term speculation."
He boasted of an average annual return rate of more than 40 per cent for four years.
Tang also held "investment summits" — the latest one at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in January of last year — with economists from China and the United States who were invited to speak to prospective investors. Among the guests were officials from the Chinese consulate in Toronto.
One alleged victim, who came from the same Hunan province as Tang and invested $300,000 with him, told the Toronto Star that Tang's clients met regularly to discuss the matter in the last month but the majority of them have refused to come forward and believed that Tang could come up with the money.
"They were brainwashed," said the woman, who asked not be identified. She said she and 14 others were discouraged from coming forward to authorities while clients in the other camp are petitioning the OSC not to pursue charges against Tang, fearing the action would stop them from claiming any money back ever.
Another investor, who with his wife invested $500,000 last September, said Tang's initial clients from as early as 1999 were mostly people from his hometown through word of month, but in recent years the businessman has advertised heavily in the local Chinese media.
"We were drawn to him because of his promise of the weekly 1 per cent return," said the man, in his 40s, outside the police station. Like other alleged victims, he refused to give his name. "We trusted him."作者: 从来没有救世主 时间: 2009-4-1 13:25 标题: 晚新闻又可以看到盗版阿扁上镜了 不少苦主心里一定很想扁他吧作者: 法官 时间: 2009-4-1 13:31
记者谈海接到唐炜臻临时代表组(也即被媒体称为"保唐派"的一批人士)打来的电话,他们不会到场,也不会出现早前有中文媒体所说的两派针锋相对的局面,因为大家都是受害者,如果真的在现场对峙,不仅既丢钱,又丢人;因此他们也不会在现场向证监会递交有100多名客户签名的请愿信,而是将信件交给唐炜臻的代理律师,由他们再转交安省证监会。
On Mar. 18, 2009, the OSC filed on application seeking court orders to ensure that the funds on deposit in Weizheng Tang’s four accounts with Interactive Broker are not further dissipated, removed from the jurisdiction or transferred or transferred further.
The OSC investigation regards Tang’s conduct that may have breached the Securities Act which includes perpetrating a fraud on investors, distributing securities without complying with prospectus requirements, trading in securities without registration, and making representations to investors contrary to the Act, according to the document obtained by Chinese News.
The documents further alleges that Tang raised $60 million (US) from 2006 to 2008 by representing himself as a portfolio manager registered with the OSC.
The documents indicate that the OSC has been receiving inquires and complaints from the public about Tang and his companies. Specifically, persons who had placed funds with the Oversea Chinese Fund Limited Partnership were unable to redeem the investments, since they were informed by Tang that it has no assets to make the redemptions.
法庭文件显示,证监会指控唐炜臻用后来投资者投入的钱去支付早期投资者的钱。
The OSC alleges that recently Tang had been using new funds raised from investors to pay redemptions requested by previous investors, the documents noted.
The OSC has evidence to show that the account statements received by the OSC from an investor indicating a balance as of January 1, 2009 of $1,005,386.76 were fabricated, according to the documents.
法庭文件显示,有证据显示,所有帐户上的钱几乎被唐和他的公司挥霍一空。
Evidence would appear that almost all funds have been dissipated by Tang and his companies, the documents noted.
证监会法庭文件中的所有指控尚未被法庭证实。
All the allegations in the documents have not been proven in court.
现在,你也许想知道唐炜臻和他的那些公司将面临什么样的结局。
Now you may wonder what will happen next to Tang and his companies.
The court may prove any application that satisfies legal tests to freeze the assets, books and records immediately, although it might take a week or two for respondents to file a response, said Mr. Alan T. Mak, a forensic accountant of Rosen & Associates Limited.
“When the OSC suspects that an individual in the financial industry has breached securities laws, it will conduct an enforcement investigation through its lawyers and accountants and put together a case against the alleged offender,” said Mak.
Under the circumstances that a non-OSC registrant broke the Securities Act, the OSC may file an application seeking a court order requiring books and records from the accused wrongdoer, pursue civil actions which might lead to getting money back for investors, or turn the case over to Crown attorney to pursue criminal charges under the criminal elements of the Securities Act.
The RCMP or other law enforcement agencies may also involve in the criminal investigation by interviewing investors, locating the whereabouts of the suspect etc. Under the circumstances that the suspect is in a foreign jurisdiction, the police will coordinate with foreign authorities, either monitoring the suspect or preparing to make an arrest.
If the OSC suspects that an accused wrongdoer has taken the monies out of Canada, it may, as a first step to recover the monies, file a lawsuit against the accused wrongdoer in Canada to allege that a fraud has occurred. If the lawsuit is successful, it can take the order from the Canadian court and seek to have it enforced by the court in the foreign jurisdiction where the monies are located.
麦子健指出,投资者拿回的钱是否从盈利中支付是确认庞氏诈骗成立与否的关键。
Whether the purported investors’ returns were supported by actual profits of the business is the key to prove a potential ponzi scheme, according to Mak.
“When the OSC accountants investigate into a potential ponzi scheme, they will find out what has happened to the money, and specifically, where the money came from and how it was paid out,” said Mak. “If the distributions or payments are found to have exceeded the profits of the business, it could be a ponzi scheme.”
在马道夫的案子上,早期投资人所收到钱根本就不是投资赚来的,而是后期投资者的钱。
In Madoff case, rather than being made through his business, the monies paid out to investors were coming from earlier investors.
Generally, when a ponzi scheme is exposed, how much assets have remained and whether the investors could get money back are what most investors are concerned about, as the fraudster may have never made any investment and stolen the money.
Either the OSC or the investors may bring a lawsuit and apply for the civil equivalent of a "search warrant", known as an anton pillar order, against a ponzi suspect, where applicants seek a court order allowing them to seize from the suspect records including accounting records, correspondence etc . Investors may also apply for a court order "freezing" the assets of a suspect. This order is known as a mareva injunction.
“Since a fraudster tends to hide any information from an investigator and the assets could have been transferred to all over the world, a fraud case can be very expensive to prove, which may cost about $100,000 just on a forensic accountant,” said Mak.
While through its actions the OSC’s might end up with helping investors to get the money back, its mandate is to stop a crime. Investors are encouraged to either form a joint legal action or file a class action lawsuit against a fraudster to seek legal remedies.
When the investors suspect that they have become the victims of a Ponzi scheme, and intend to contact police to pursue a criminal investigation, they are required to put all evidence together that strongly proves the crime, since police will not take actions on civil financial disputes resulting from the market downturn.
“For example, if investors can gather evidence to show that their money was not invested in the XYZ Company as had been informed, etc, it might prompt the police to investigate into a potential fraud case, “ said Mak.
On Mar. 18, 2009, the OSC filed on application seeking court orders to ensure that the funds on deposit in Weizheng Tang’s four accounts with Interactive Broker are not further dissipated, removed from the jurisdiction or transferred or transferred further.
The OSC investigation regards Tang’s conduct that may have breached the Securities Act which includes perpetrating a fraud on investors, distributing securities without complying with prospectus requirements, trading in securities without registration, and making representations to investors contrary to the Act, according to the document obtained by Chinese News.
The documents further alleges that Tang raised $60 million (US) from 2006 to 2008 by representing himself as a portfolio manager registered with the OSC.
The documents indicate that the OSC has been receiving inquires and complaints from the public about Tang and his companies. Specifically, persons who had placed funds with the Oversea Chinese Fund Limited Partnership were unable to redeem the investments, since they were informed by Tang that it has no assets to make the redemptions.
法庭文件显示,证监会指控唐炜臻用后来投资者投入的钱去支付早期投资者的钱。
The OSC alleges that recently Tang had been using new funds raised from investors to pay redemptions requested by previous investors, the documents noted.
The OSC has evidence to show that the account statements received by the OSC from an investor indicating a balance as of January 1, 2009 of $1,005,386.76 were fabricated, according to the documents.
法庭文件显示,有证据显示,所有帐户上的钱几乎被唐和他的公司挥霍一空。
Evidence would appear that almost all funds have been dissipated by Tang and his companies, the documents noted.
证监会法庭文件中的所有指控尚未被法庭证实。
All the allegations in the documents have not been proven in court.
现在,你也许想知道唐炜臻和他的那些公司将面临什么样的结局。
Now you may wonder what will happen next to Tang and his companies.
The court may prove any application that satisfies legal tests to freeze the assets, books and records immediately, although it might take a week or two for respondents to file a response, said Mr. Alan T. Mak, a forensic accountant of Rosen & Associates Limited.
“When the OSC suspects that an individual in the financial industry has breached securities laws, it will conduct an enforcement investigation through its lawyers and accountants and put together a case against the alleged offender,” said Mak.
Under the circumstances that a non-OSC registrant broke the Securities Act, the OSC may file an application seeking a court order requiring books and records from the accused wrongdoer, pursue civil actions which might lead to getting money back for investors, or turn the case over to Crown attorney to pursue criminal charges under the criminal elements of the Securities Act.
The RCMP or other law enforcement agencies may also involve in the criminal investigation by interviewing investors, locating the whereabouts of the suspect etc. Under the circumstances that the suspect is in a foreign jurisdiction, the police will coordinate with foreign authorities, either monitoring the suspect or preparing to make an arrest.
If the OSC suspects that an accused wrongdoer has taken the monies out of Canada, it may, as a first step to recover the monies, file a lawsuit against the accused wrongdoer in Canada to allege that a fraud has occurred. If the lawsuit is successful, it can take the order from the Canadian court and seek to have it enforced by the court in the foreign jurisdiction where the monies are located.
麦子健指出,投资者拿回的钱是否从盈利中支付是确认庞氏诈骗成立与否的关键。
Whether the purported investors’ returns were supported by actual profits of the business is the key to prove a potential ponzi scheme, according to Mak.
“When the OSC accountants investigate into a potential ponzi scheme, they will find out what has happened to the money, and specifically, where the money came from and how it was paid out,” said Mak. “If the distributions or payments are found to have exceeded the profits of the business, it could be a ponzi scheme.”
在马道夫的案子上,早期投资人所收到钱根本就不是投资赚来的,而是后期投资者的钱。
In Madoff case, rather than being made through his business, the monies paid out to investors were coming from earlier investors.
Generally, when a ponzi scheme is exposed, how much assets have remained and whether the investors could get money back are what most investors are concerned about, as the fraudster may have never made any investment and stolen the money.
Either the OSC or the investors may bring a lawsuit and apply for the civil equivalent of a "search warrant", known as an anton pillar order, against a ponzi suspect, where applicants seek a court order allowing them to seize from the suspect records including accounting records, correspondence etc . Investors may also apply for a court order "freezing" the assets of a suspect. This order is known as a mareva injunction.
“Since a fraudster tends to hide any information from an investigator and the assets could have been transferred to all over the world, a fraud case can be very expensive to prove, which may cost about $100,000 just on a forensic accountant,” said Mak.
While through its actions the OSC’s might end up with helping investors to get the money back, its mandate is to stop a crime. Investors are encouraged to either form a joint legal action or file a class action lawsuit against a fraudster to seek legal remedies.
When the investors suspect that they have become the victims of a Ponzi scheme, and intend to contact police to pursue a criminal investigation, they are required to put all evidence together that strongly proves the crime, since police will not take actions on civil financial disputes resulting from the market downturn.
“For example, if investors can gather evidence to show that their money was not invested in the XYZ Company as had been informed, etc, it might prompt the police to investigate into a potential fraud case, “ said Mak.