The firms include:
- Gala Securities, 75 Wall Street, New York
- Gala Securities, 7322 Southwest Freeway, Suite 1100, Houston TX
- Horsham Management Group, Avenida El Calvario 13, Marbella 29600 Malaga, Spain who act as vendors for
- Scorpio Opportunities Fund
- Ultima Investment Fund
- Morgan Dollar silver coin
Some of the individuals named in the correspondences of these fictitious companies include: David Masters. Dennis Potts, Marcus Arron, Steven Winterstern, Erik Ambrose, and E Melamed. The authorities also mention a Mrs Hegwig Hakim of Jakarta who has been blacklisted by the Indonesian government for collecting unit trust funds all over the world.
The US authorities state that to their knowledge, at least two Malaysian citizens have been duped into investing sizeable sums of money in these companies.
On Gala Securities, the Securities and Exchange Commission office in Texas confirms that complaints have already been received from not only Malaysia, but from Kenya and Mauritius.
The US authorities also state that anyone with a personal computer can print a newsletter touting their mutual fund's investment performance, or share certificate, or even counterfeit currency. They cite a newsletter called "Market Rap" as being used by Ultima to promote itself as having a "superior track record", "conservative approach", "Which tends to be the preserve of affluent, sophisticated investors." The authorities confirm that Ultima does not even exist.
The SC would like to remind the public that dealings by companies or persons in offshore securities cannot be carried out in Malaysia with Malaysian residents unless the person concerned is issued a licence (under the Securities Industry Act (SIA)) by the Licensing Officer of the Ministry of Finance.
The public is advised that should they have any doubts about the person(s) they are dealing with, they should contact the SC.
The public is further advised that should they decide to take the risk of putting their money with persons who have offers that are "too good to resist", they do so at their own risk.
