City businessman on the run after being convicted of fraud in £70m forex scam
A businessman who ran a ponzi-style investment scam from a City of London office worth in excess of £70m was found guilty today following a seven week trial.
Operating between 2013 and 2015, Anthony Constantinou ran Capital World Markets, which promised returns of five per cent a month to investors, who were asked to stump up between £50,000 and £100,000, City of London police said.
But the money was not being invested in foreign exchange and the returns were instead being paid back to them from their own and others’ invested capital, police said.
The investigation also found “extravagant spending” of clients’ funds, the police said, including £3m spent by Constantinou, 41, on events, including his wedding and a CWM launch party.
He was found guilty by a jury on seven counts of fraud by false representation, fraudulent trading and money laundering at Southwark Crown Court.
Constantinou, however, did not attend the later stages of his trial and an international arrest warrant has been issued to locate him.
Constantinou is due to be sentenced in absentia on June 9.
“This has been a long-running and complex investigation. Anthony Constantinou is a career criminal who is out to make as much money for himself as possible, with no regard for anyone else,” Detective Inspector Nichola Meghji, from the City of London Police, said.
“Throughout this lengthy investigation, Constantinou has continued to try to deceive officers and deny any wrongdoing. In a further move to deny any involvement in this case, he decided to stop attending his trial,” Meghji added.