Minnesotas's StarTribune has made a great job in tracking down, through a Facebook message, and finally managing to interview the former CEO of the notorious Swiss brokerage - Crown Forex. It is clear why FINMA are giving Forex brokerages a hard time.
Trevor Cook, the mastermind behind this huge scam, has identified several of his associates among them: its former owner, Ibrahim A. Hasanein, 35, who is believed to be living in Amman, Jordan; its former CEO, Shadi M.K. Swais, 34, who has returned to the grocery business in Amman; and Jamal M. Sayyad, 36, owner of a defunct foreign exchange company and Royal Limousine Inc., in Virginia.
Unsurprisingly Swais, who's back in his home country Jordan, is playing down his involvement with Crown Forex and basic claims he knows nothing and had nothing to do with the scam. Right.
Among his statements you can find the following:
- "If it was not for the markets that damaged us in a great way and for the Regulation changes in Switzerland [requiring greater financial reserves], we would still be open today". That's gold...
- "According to Swais, the FBI interviewed Hasanein in Jordan several months ago. Swais said he had planned to go to the meeting but Hasanein said it wasn't necessary. No U.S. investigators have tried to call or e-mail him, Swais said, but if they do, he's willing to speak with them." Right...
You can find many more interesting details, some of which contradict Cook's statements to the FBI, (I now tend to believe Cook more as he has pleaded guilty and has nothing to lose if he tells everything truthfully) in the interview. Once again, kudos to StarTribune for solid journalism.
