Invested in a foreign project and lost your money? The pattern is recognizable — and so is the solution.
A recurring pattern
Dutch investors have been approached for decades to invest in foreign projects. These involve diverse investments: teak plantations in Brazil, orange plantations in South Africa, vanilla plantations in Madagascar, nut plantations in South America, gold, silver, copper, and diamond mines in Africa, holiday home projects around the Mediterranean, share investments via offshore structures, and all kinds of other investment objects. There are too many to mention.
Despite the diversity of the projects, the pattern is always the same. Private individuals are approached via unsolicited telephone acquisition with a “unique investment opportunity”. After the conversation, they receive a professionally designed brochure with sky-high return promises. The money is invested and immediately funneled abroad. Then it goes quiet: payouts fail to materialize, information becomes scarce, and the company ultimately proves unable — or unwilling — to fulfill its promises.
Out of reach of the AFM
A core problem with foreign investment fraud is that the Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) has absolutely no grip on companies outside the Netherlands. The scope of the AFM stops at the national borders. This means that investment projects located abroad — regardless of whether they are sold from the Netherlands — have free rein. There is no control, no licensing requirement, and no enforcement on foreign operations.
Fraudsters deliberately make use of this. By structuring the investment via a Dutch sales office that funnels money to a foreign project company, they create a structure that effectively falls outside all supervision. The investor cannot check anything, and the regulator cannot intervene.
Signals of foreign investment fraud
Be alert to the following red flags that indicate potential fraud in foreign investments:
You are approached unexpectedly by telephone with an investment offer
Unrealistically high returns are promised (20%, 30% or more per year)
Pressure is applied to invest quickly (“the opportunity is almost gone”)
The project is located in a distant foreign country where you cannot verify it
There is no independent supervision or license from the AFM
The provision of information is poor or contradictory
Payouts are repeatedly postponed with changing explanations
What BFRG can do for you
Foundation BFRG is deployable both nationally and internationally. We have the expertise and the network to act effectively in cases of foreign investment fraud as well. Specifically, we can conduct forensic investigation into the financial flows and corporate structures, track down responsible individuals — even abroad, have international assets of fraudsters seized, and conduct a mass claim jointly on behalf of all victims.
If there are enough victims who have been disadvantaged by the same company or the same structure, we will start a mass claim. This is by far the most effective and most affordable route for individual investors to recover their damages.
Bureau Fraude Recht & Geldzaken B.V. receives the registration forms from our Foundation and will contact you by telephone to discuss all the ins and outs with you. Register now while you still can!
