Six arrested in Spain over $600m stock exchange fraud
28-01-2009
Spanish police have arrested six men over alleged fraud on the London Stock Exchange totalling $600 million (£419 million).
The men, believed to be five Spanish nationals and one Argentinean, were arrested in Madrid, Barcelona and Elche after a four-year investigation initially launched by the Serious Fraud Office in the UK.
According to police the men are suspected of listing a firm named Langbar International on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in October 2003.
With an initial value of about $300 million, the suspects artificially inflated the company's share price by making false statements without any investment.
"Through complex commercial and stock market operations, as well as falsifications, the arrested managed to make the value of the shares of a firm on the stock market increase, without deposits to back it up, and profited from the subsequent sale of the shares," a statement from Spanish police said.
If charged it is unclear whether the men will be prosecuted in Spain or extradited to the UK.
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