Five men and one woman have been charged following a Serious Fraud Office investigation into the laundering of 11 ½ million US dollars obtained through an allegedly fraudulent high-yield investment scheme. Transfer of the funds was facilitated through two London-based solicitors firms.
Four of the defendants appeared at Bow Street Magistrates' Court today. All four are British nationals, They are:
- Carlo Spetale (born 28 June 1946). A resident of London.
- Anthony Feldman (born 6 May 1945). A resident of London
- Peter Brewer (born 23 January 1940). A resident of the Isle of Wight
- David Lakeman (born 13th October 1939). A resident of Southampton.
Two other persons, Polish nationals both, were charged earlier this month. They are:
- Dariusz Maruszak (born 26 January 1967). A resident of New York. He was extradited from the USA.
- Elzbieta Koberstein (born 15 March 1959). A resident of Munich. She was extradited from Germany.
Bail conditions
Spetale, Feldman, Brewer and Lakeman have surrendered their passports to the Police.
Maruszak and Koberstein, who were the subjects of extradition proceedings, are to remain in custody awaiting trial.
All six are due to appear again at Bow Street Magistrates Court on 1 November when an application will be made by the SFO to have the case transferred to a Crown Court for trial.
Outline
It is the SFO's case that the above six persons were complicit in the laundering of US $11½ million from a pool of investment funds held on escrow by a firm of London-based solicitors Swepstone Walsh. The SFO alleges that the funds were, without the knowledge or authority of the investors, transferred in December 1997, from the client account of solicitors firm Swepstone Walsh to an attorney trust account in the USA and from there transferred to the client account of another London-based solicitor Anthony Feldman & Co in January 1998. The defendants entered into an arrangement to control, use and disburse the money for their ultimate benefit in what was a sophisticated international money laundering exercise.
(There is an underlying alleged fraud currently subject to proceedings brought by the SFO, involving two other persons - Thomas Pilz and Richard Walker. See notes for editors below).
Notes for editors:
- The underlying alleged fraud. The prosecution of the above six persons arose out of an SFO investigation into two other persons who are also the subject of criminal proceedings. They are:
- Thomas Pilz (born 10 February 1965), a German national and resident of Switzerland from where he was extradited.
- Richard Walker (born 8 February 1944), a British national and resident of Sevenoaks, Kent.
They were charged in December 2001 with conspiracy to defraud investors of invested funds operated under the umbrella of Mezuzah Inc. Clients attracted to the Mezuzah scheme were offered high-yield investments but instead of being invested, the funds were dissipated. They are being held in custody and their trial is to open on 2 December 2002 at Southwark Crown Court.
- The money laundering case against the six defendants who are the subject of this press release is to be transferred to a Crown Court yet to be determined. A trial is unlikely to commence before June 2003.
- The investigation was undertaken in collaboration with the Metropolitan Police.
Serious Fraud Office, Elm House, 10-16 Elm Street, London WC1X 0BJ
Press Office tel. 020 7239 7000/7001/7004. Mobile 0781 807 6688
