CWM FX

CWM FX was a foreign exchange trading firm located at the Heron Tower at 110 Bishopsgate, otherwise known as Salesforce Tower. Dealing at the firm was suspended in March 2015 following a police raid on the firm and 13 arrests. There have been no convictions relating to these arrests as of 15 June 2015. CEO Anthony Constantinou was convicted in 2016 of sexual assault and sentenced to serve 12 months in jail.[1] London Police later revealed that most of the company's revenue came from a £50m alleged Ponzi scheme which promised returns of 5% per month.[2]

CWM FX
TypePrivate limited company
IndustryFinancial services
HeadquartersLondon, England.
Key people
  • Anthony Constantinou
    Craig Droste
ProductsForeign exchange
Websitecwmfx.com

Operations

The firm formerly used the foreign exchange trading "white label" trading platform of Leverate Financial Services Limited,[3] a Cyprus Investment Firm (CIF) licensed and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission[4] that operated in London using the MiFID rules of the European Community. It operated a "straight through processing" model for retail traders in foreign exchange to trade Currency Pairs and Contract For Difference (CFDs). CWM FX is currently looking for a new partner in order to resume operations.

People

The founder of the CWM group of companies is Anthony Gregory Constantinou.[5] Constantinou was born in 1981 and educated at Deree College where he obtained the degree of Bachelor of Business Administration (2000-2003). He was chief executive officer of AC Enterprises Limited (September 2005 to December 2012).[6] In 2013 he was a director[7] of Aixia Limited (trading as T4X Binary or T4X Signals) about which the Financial Conduct Authority issued a warning in 2014.[8] He has served as a director of 24 companies, all of which have been dissolved.[9]

Anthony Constantinou is the youngest son[10][11] of Aristos Constantinou who was shot on New Year's Day 1985.[12] In October 2016, Anthony Constantinou was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault at the Old Bailey, in what was described in court, as Wolf of Wall Street style behaviour.[13] He was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment on 1 December 2016.[14][15]

Craig James Droste was a director of CWM Trading Limited and CWM FX Limited and 2 other companies, all of which have been dissolved.[16] He was born in 1984 and educated at the University of Stellenbosch and has a background in yacht management.[17]

Sarah Tien is Head Of Finance of CWM Trading Limited. She attended Loughborough University and previously worked for Price Waterhouse Coopers.[18]

Police raid

CWM FX's trading platform was terminated by Leverate following a police raid on the CWM FX offices on 3 March 2015 that resulted in 13 arrests on suspicion of fraud by false representation, conspiracy to defraud, and money laundering.[3][19] All those arrested were bailed until September 2015. City of London police detective superintendent Maria Woodall said: "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 5% interest per month."[20] CWM FX said "Despite requests made of the police, they have thus far failed to provide the name of a single investor who has raised concerns with them."[21]

CWM FX has described itself as unfairly caught up in attempts to close down "boiler-room" frauds which they say they are not, but other reports in the media have claimed the raid is related to connections between CWM FX and Belvedere Management which has recently been the subject of adverse publicity.[22][23][24]

According to reports in City A.M., the company's plans for expansion in Manchester have been disrupted by the consequential effects of the police raid.[25]

Aftermath

In May 2015, further details of alleged criminality by CWM FX emerged with reports of a scam targeting the Gurkha community in the UK that offered a promised return of 5% per month.[26][27]

In July 2016 it was reported by OffshoreAlert that DMS Bank in the Cayman Islands and a British Virgin Islands domiciled client of the bank were being sued by 318 people who claimed to have lost £50 million on investments with CWM Group.[28]

Sponsorship

The firm is known for its sports sponsorship deals which include boxing and being the "online forex trading partner" of Chelsea Football Club.[29][30][31] The agreement with Chelsea was terminated following the police raid.[21]

Other deals include sponsoring the CWM LCR Honda MotoGP racing team, Wigan Warriors rugby team, and SV Racing, which will participate in the Renault Clio Cup in 2015.[32] The deal with CWM LCR Honda is reported to have been for 6.3 million Euros, two thirds of which motor sport sources believe may already have been paid.[33]

In November 2014 it was announced that CWM FX had become the title sponsor for the London Boat Show and from 2015 the show would be known as the CWM FX London Boat Show.[34][35]

See also

References
  1. "'Wolf Of Wall Street' ex-City boss jailed for molesting two women as judge says sexual bullying 'blights lives'". The Telegraph. December 1, 2016. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  2. Viña, Gonzalo (February 4, 2016). "Gurkha soldiers lose savings in £50m Ponzi scheme". Financial Times. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  3. "CWM FX Suspends Service after Leverate Cut All Ties to the Broker." Avi Mizrahi, Forex Magnates, 23 March 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  4. "About CWM FX". CWMFX. Retrieved 2015-03-07.
  5. Harris, Julian (2011-10-07). "Heron Tower police raid: The colourful world of Chelsea FC's forex partner CWM FX | City A.M". City A.M. Retrieved 2015-03-07.
  6. Anthony Constantinou, LinkedIn.com. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  7. Earlier warning over CWM founders. Harry Wilson and Nic Fildes, The Times, 31 March 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  8. Aixia Limited, t/a T4X Binary, t/a T4X Signals. Financial Conduct Authority, 03 March 2014, modified 11 March 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  9. ANTHONY GREGORY CONSTANTINOU. CompanyCheck. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  10. "Tycoon brother of 'Silver Bullet Murder' victim returns to the High Street with Ariella fashion brand after 30 years", Joanna Bourke, London Evening Standard, 28 April 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  11. Police finally fess up over fraud arrests at City forex firm CWM. Jim Armitage, London Evening Standard, 25 March 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  12. "Family of murdered tycoon calls for charges against widow". Ben Leach, The Telegraph, 30 November 2008. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  13. "'Wolf of Wall Street' groper faces jail for sex assaults on two women". 17 October 2016.
  14. "Criminal sentence - Anthony Gregory Constantinou - court: Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey)". www.thelawpages.com. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
  15. "'Wolf Of Wall Street' ex-City boss jailed for molesting two women as judge says sexual bullying 'blights lives'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
  16. CRAIG JAMES DROSTE. CompanyCheck. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  17. CV. Craig J. Droste. cv-service.org 19 March 2015. Retrieved from Internet Archive 25 March 2015.
  18. Sarah Tien. LinkedIn. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  19. "Heron Tower forex trader CWM FX drops website after provider Leverate pulls platform." Catherine Neilan and Julian Harris, City A.M., 24 March 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  20. "Chelsea FC partner Capital World Markets investigated by police over alleged fraud". Lewis Dean, International Business Times, 25 March 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  21. Chelsea FC dumps City firm CWM FX, which is at the centre of police fraud raid. Julian Harris and David Hellier, City A.M., 25 March 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  22. LCR Honda Sponsor CWMFX Subject Of Fraud Enquiry By London Police. David Emmett, motomatters.com, 25 March 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  23. CWMFX’s Parent Group Linked to Massive Offshore Ponzi Scheme, Researcher Says. Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine Victor Golovtchenko, Forex Magnates, 24 March 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  24. EXPOSED: Belvedere Management's massive criminal enterprise. David Marchant, Offshore Alert, 17 March 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  25. "Workers’ unrest at fraud probe firm CWM FX as Manchester office remains empty." Julian Harris, City A.M., 10 April 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  26. Gurkhas targeted by heartless investment scammers. Martin Evans, The Telegraph, 22 May 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  27. Gurkha and Nepalese community believed to have fallen victim to major investment fraud. Archived 2015-10-24 at the Wayback Machine City of London Police, 19 May 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  28. Cayman's DMS Bank sued by victims of CWM Group's £50M investment fraud. David Marchant, OffshoreAlert, 14 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  29. Jim Armitage (6 March 2015). "When 13 are arrested in the City, clients deserve more answers". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  30. "CWM FX joins the Blues". Chelsea FC. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  31. "CWM FX wraps up Chelsea as online partner". Chris Papadopoullos, City A.M., 6 January 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  32. "Seyfried Joins CWM FX Backed SV Racing For Clio Cup - Renault UK Clio Cup". The Checkered Flag. 2 March 2015. Retrieved 2015-03-07.
  33. CWM-Chef Anthony Constantinou: Mehr als 4 Mio bezahlt. Von Günther Wiesinger, Speed Week, 2 April 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  34. "London Boat Show - CWM FX signs as title sponsor". Sail-World.com. Retrieved 2015-03-07.
  35. "CWM FX signs as LBS title sponsor". Boating Business. Retrieved 2015-03-07.
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