Chelsea FC partner is named over Heron Tower fraud raid
Exclusive: Police will this morning name the City company at the centre of a fraud squad raid that resulted in 13 people being arrested earlier this month.
Investors in a fund run by CWM (Capital World Markets) are being asked to come forward and speak to the City of London police, which conducted the raid on the 21st floor of Heron Tower on 3 March.
CWM’s foreign exchange service, CWM FX, became an official partner of Chelsea Football Club at the start of the year, as part of a spate of glamorous marketing deals aimed at various sports. It also sponsored the London Boat Show in January, where 33-year-old chief executive Anthony Constantinou met Princess Anne.
The police statement will say that the 13 people arrested all “work for the City-based foreign exchange trading company”. They were arrested on suspicion of fraud and money laundering, and released on bail until September. The targets of the investigation are managed funds that offered five per cent interest a month.
“The primary objective of the arrest phase of this investigation was to stop what we believe was ongoing criminality and prevent people putting their money into CWM’s managed funds offering five per cent interest per month,” detective superintendent Maria Woodall will say.
“Now we need anyone who thinks they have invested in this specific enterprise to get in contact and help us clarify exactly how this company has been using the funds given to them in good faith by citizens living in both the UK and abroad.” The investigation, led by the police, has been supported by the Financial Conduct Authority, the City’s watchdog.
On Monday this week, CWM FX pulled the forex trading platform from its website after the firm’s technology provider, Leverate Financial Services, terminated the agreement. City A.M. understands that the publicity surrounding the raid led to the end of the relationship between Leverate and CWM FX.
Earlier in March, on the day following the raid, CWM FX published a tweet referring to the events.
“CWM FX is operating as normal,” the tweet said. “Merely an AML [antimony laundering] enquiry & had no correspondence to us.”
The tweet was deleted later that day. Last night, the company said: “CWM World is a respected group of companies with a multi-million pound turnover, operating with dozens of partners in a number of countries around the world. Police raided our offices on Tuesday 3 March 2015, as a result of allegations for which we believe there is no sustainable basis. We are not able to comment further, or provide any further details, due to the ongoing police investigation, but will continue to co-operate with their inquiries.”
Chelsea FC declined to comment last night. In January, a spokesperson said: “We are delighted to welcome CWM FX on board with us. Our goal is to partner companies which share our philosophy of innovation while consistently competing at the highest level and we look forward to a fruitful relationship.”
Anyone who has invested in the funds is being urged to call the police on 020 7601 6830 or to contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or to visit the website: www.actionfraud.police.uk.