Only yesterday I reported about an ongoing investigation of an alleged Forez Ponzi scheme in Saratosa, US and today one of our readers brought the existence of another investigation to my attention – this time in Australia (thanks fxboy).

The details are scarce but Australian Investor Daily reports that a group of more than 20 investors are exploring whether they have a legal case against ANZ and another financial services firm over $9 million lost in an apparent Ponzi scheme.

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Through SAI Finance representative Krishnan Rasaratnam, investors were offered the opportunity to make high returns of 20 per cent per month by engaging in foreign exchange dealings with the benefit of guaranteed capital protection, the documents said.

Investors made their payments into one of a number of ANZ bank accounts, which were in names that did not correspond with the account names nominated by the investors when they remitted funds, the documents said.

At least one of the accounts is said to be in the name of Rasaratnam, with another said to be in the name of his brother and former Professional Investment Services adviser Manickan Rasaratnam, they said.

All this should have raised a major red flag for the potential victims and I’d like to remind here, again, what should serve as an alert when thinking of making an investment in a high-return investment scheme. When some or all of these conditions apply to your potential money manager – it’s time to take a step back and reconsider all the details.

• Starting through an affinity group and spreading the word from there.
• Promising high monthly dividends on a venture that is inherently risky.
• Having an agreement signed by investors not to divulge their deal.
• Lacking filings to the Internal Revenue Service.
• Charging hefty referral fees early on and late bonuses to encourage fresh inflows.
• Having a “reload” or recovery phase.