An Auckland man who operated a foreign exchange brokerage and trading business has been charged with fraud that allegedly saw 18 investors lose at least $7 million.
Kelvin Clive Wood, 69, entered no plea today in the Auckland District Court to representative charges of obtaining by deception and theft by person in a special relationship, brought by the Serious Fraud Office.
The SFO alleges Wood operated a Ponzi scheme from January 2010 to May 2017, using new investors’ funds to pay other investors their reported gains, or to refund their principal investment.
It alleges that 18 investors lost at least $7 million as a result of Wood's offending during this eight-year period and that his largest investors lost more than $1 million each.
The SFO says Wood facilitated foreign exchange and trading services through two companies - Forex (NZ) Limited and Forex NZ 2000 Limited.
Wood has been remanded on bail until his next appearance in court on November 13.
The Financial Markets Authority referred the case to the SFO to investigate in mid-2017.
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