The National Bureau of Investigation, Finland’s central criminal police, has started an investigation into the activities of the WinClub “investment club”. The NBI says that up to 10,000 people had made on-line investments in the club. The total value of the investments exceeds EUR 50 million.
Individual investors may have lost thousands and even tens of thousands of euros in investments. The website of the on-line investment community was shut down at the beginning of this month. Only a few criminal complaints have been made so far.
The “investment club” operated for several years, and at least a few of the investors actually made a profit.
The NBI says that it has reason to suspect that a number of crimes were committed in connection with WinClub, and its successor WinCapita. The aim of the ongoing investigation is to establish whether or not the activities constitute a pyramid scheme.
The authorities are asking that people who feel that they have been the victim of a crime after investing in WinCapita to report their suspicions to the local police.
Some more information in this website
You can also read what wikipedia has posted about Wincapita:
Wincapita, previously Winclub, was an Internet based investment and multi-level marketing company that is alleged to be a Ponzi scheme. It operated on Finnish market.
The company presented itself as an invitation-only investment club that required an initial investment of several thousand Euros, while promising up to 400% returns in investment initial.
The investment company has been in operation since 2005. The web site of the company was abruptly closed in March 2008.
According to Finnish National Bureau of Investigation, who began investigating the activities of the company in late March 2008, approximately 10.000 people lost their investment. The total amount of money lost is over 50 million Euros.
In the early part of the operations, the returns were paid normally, in order to draw in more investors. The company itself was registered in Panama.
