Bureau Fraude Recht & Geldzaken B.V. has spared no expense or effort to make it legally possible to recover your invested capital from the following organizations!
Definition
Investment fraud is a collective term for any form of deception or scam where someone is induced to invest money based on incorrect, incomplete, or misleading information. The fraudster presents an investment that in reality does not exist, is not profitable, or whose proceeds are not paid out to the investor. The fraudster’s goal is simple: to take your money under the guise of an “investment”.
Investment fraud takes many forms and shapes. It can involve non-existent projects, highly exaggerated return promises, pyramid structures, or simply the siphoning off of invested money to the private accounts of the directors. What all forms have in common is deceiving the investor to induce them into an investment that would never have been made under correct information.
Common forms
Ponzi fraud (Ponzi scheme): Returns are not achieved through real investments, but paid from the deposits of new investors. As long as new participants join, the system seems to work. As soon as the influx stops, it collapses and most investors lose everything.
Pyramid scheme: Participants are encouraged to recruit new investors. The money flows upwards in the pyramid. The bottom layers — the majority — lose their investment.
Boiler room fraud: Via aggressive telephone sales (cold calling), victims are put under high pressure to invest in worthless, non-existent, or highly overvalued products.
Foreign investment projects: Investments in plantations, mines, real estate, or other projects abroad where the money disappears and the promised returns fail to materialize. This is the form most common in BFRG’s cases.
How do you recognize investment fraud?
There are clear warning signs that point to possible investment fraud. Be alert if you are approached with unrealistically high returns (20%, 30% or more per year) that are “guaranteed” — no serious investment offers guaranteed high returns. Pay attention if you are approached unsolicited by telephone with an investment offer, if pressure is applied to invest quickly, if the project is located in a distant foreign country where you cannot verify anything, if there is no AFM license, and if the provision of information is unclear or contradictory.
Investment fraud in the Netherlands
The Netherlands unfortunately has a long history of investment fraud. Thousands of citizens have been defrauded by companies that sold investments in foreign projects via telephone acquisition — from teak plantations in Brazil to holiday homes around the Mediterranean. The Goodwood, Floresteca, and ATF case is the largest and best-known example of this, with more than 13,000 defrauded investors and over €300 million in invested capital.
What can you do if you have been defrauded?
If you suspect that you are a victim of investment fraud, take action as soon as possible. Keep all documents, contracts, correspondence, and proofs of payment — this is essential evidence. Report it to the police. Report the fraud to the AFM. And contact Foundation BFRG to see if a mass claim is possible. The faster you act, the greater the chance that your damages can be recovered.
