In the second arrest of a Retail Forex broker CEO we’ve reported on in the past week…
Israeli business news outlets including Globes and Calcalist are reporting that retail forex broker Utrade’s controlling shareholder Aviv Talmor was arrested yesterday by Israeli police.
Globes reports that Talmor is suspected of fraud, running a Ponzi scheme, money laundering and managing investment portfolios without a license.
Talmor was arrested immediately upon his return to Israel on Monday, after fleeing the country last September. His return was coordinated after talks took place between his lawyers and the Israel Securities Authority (ISA). Talmor was arrested upon arrival at Ben Gurion airport and has had his remand extended for five days.
Talmor is suspected, through Utrade, of recruiting 600 clients between 2012 and 2015 and managing their money using algo trading, while Utrade had no license for managing investment portfolios.
Talmor is also suspected of making false presentations to motivate and persuade clients to invest money with Utrade.
The more serious allegations allege that each investors was provided access to a ‘virtual account’, which falsely presented the amount of the investment balance. In practice, the investor’s money was deposited in another account controlled solely by Talmor and Utrade. A difference of $12 million accrued between the false presentation of financial balances in the virtual accounts, and the cash held in the company’s bank account.
A receiver has been appointed for Utrade.