Father and daughter charged over $70m scam

A FLORIDA father and daughter showed “callous disregard” for the British victims of their $70 million (€44m) share scam, US investigators said yesterday.

The pair were arrested in Florida and charged with multiple counts of money laundering and fraud.

Zibiah Gunter, 25, and her father Paul, 58, are accused of selling worthless shares to thousands of mostly elderly British citizens. If found guilty, they could face up to 25 years in prison.

Investigators claim that fake shares were sold in 50 dormant firms since 2005 in what is known as a boiler room fraud scam.

“These two criminals demonstrated a callous disregard for the hard-earned money of individuals who thought that they were legitimately investing,” said Robert Weber, head of the investigation for the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.

After being contacted in July 2006, Scott Broom, 52, from Glasgow invested £27,000 (€34,790) in a company called Transglobal Oil Corporation after receiving a number of other similar share-selling calls shortly afterwards, he realised it could be a scam. But it was too late — he had already wired the money to a Bank of America account.

Head of the money laundering unit at City of London Police, deputy chief inspector Robert Wishart said that more than 15,000 Britons were affected, with one victim claiming to have lost more than £1m.