Soldier victims of ‘forex fraud’ sought

Gurkhas caught up in an alleged £50 million City fraud have been urged to come forward by lawyers leading the fight for compensation.

Fieldfisher claims investors were conned into handing over thousands of pounds to unscrupulous foreign exchange traders.

The law firm said it believed that as many as 300 Nepali current and former British soldiers could be victims of an investment scheme run by CWM Limited, which was shut down last year after police raided its offices in the City, arresting 15 people.

The Gurkhas are estimated to have lost about £8.5 million in the scheme which, it is claimed, saw CWM take investors’ money before transferring the funds to a Cayman Islands-based bank where it went missing.

Ian Austin, a partner at Fieldfisher, said that CWM had gone to elaborate lengths to convince potential customers it was a legitimate business.

“CWM published daily videos to investors reporting on the FX markets. And although CWM appeared to have trading desks at its offices, which were shown to potential investors to encourage them to invest, little trading took place and the trading screens ran only demonstration software,” Mr Austin said.

A spokesman for the Gurkhas said the losses caused by the CWM scheme had been “really tough” for the men and their families.

“I was one of the people to invest money in the scheme because I believed in it. I have served in the army for many years and still do. I also have a wife and children and it has affected us greatly,” he said.

He added: “The people who lured us into investing are not good people because we have lost a lot of money and our pride too.”

City of London police have been urging potential victims to come forward since the alleged fraud was discovered last year.