Investors caught in alleged $1.2b scam

After the money in their online API accounts disappeared, investors claimed they received a message from the company, saying it had been hacked. It urged patience and time for API to restore balances and compensate customers. After that, they were unable to contact company representatives, they said.

Investors in Hong Kong staged a protest outside a police station in Kowloon. They demanded stepped-up efforts, according to photos on a website created by API's investors to share information, which did not post the date.

A lawsuit against a company called API Premiere Ltd filed in Hong Kong's High Court by investor Sun Zhiming said a representative of API approached him on an instant-messaging service.

Sun then invested HK$147 million ($19 million) for gold and foreign-currency trading, which disappeared, the suit said. API Premiere's director listed in the Hong Kong Companies Registry is Ong Chew Hoon of Singapore.

Visits to listed Singapore and Hong Kong residences for Ong did not locate him, with one address proving to be false. A mobile phone number for Ong provided by investors is not in service. Police spokesmen in Singapore and Hong Kong would not comment on whether Ong is the subject of an investigation.

Hong Kong police are investigating 136 complaints of suspected fraud from people who said they invested a total of HK$415 million with API, according to a police spokeswoman. She did not give her name due to police policy.

During the past two years, API's representatives pitched investments in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, hosted an event in Singapore, offering free flights and five-star accommodation, and gave incentives for people to draw in their friends, according to the investors.

API's website cites a history in Switzerland stretching back 59 years, with services including algorithmic trading and wealth management. The website also points out that the company has offices in Geneva, Zurich and Hong Kong, with Shanghai "coming soon".

Its explanation of foreign-exchange trading was taken from Wikipedia. Its promotional video shows luxury yachts on Lake Geneva and traders at computer screens.

A Chinese man identifying himself as the vice-president of greater China for API is shown climbing into the passenger seat of a Ferrari, so the "boss", whose face isn't visible, can show him around.

Turning up unannounced in Switzerland in March, the Chinese investor group "made a whistle-stop tour of the public prosecutor, the financial regulator and the Chinese Embassy in search of a remedy", Franco Foglia, a lawyer in Geneva who was also among those who met with the investors in their search for help, said.

"I am convinced they are the victims of a fraud, and I can't imagine how hard it must be to find justice for a scam they barely understand in a country whose language and culture they don't understand," said Foglia.

"Whoever these fraudsters are, they obviously misused Switzerland's strong reputation in Asia to lure people to invest their money."