投资大王唐炜臻 承认罪过但否认偷钱(图)
【北美在线 NAOL.CA/NAOL.US】
2009/03/29 分类:加拿大财经 来源:星报
北美在线(NAOL.CA/NAOL.US):投资大王唐炜臻承认罪过,但否认偷钱。
唐炜臻在广州签名售书
唐炜臻在自家办公室 /
北美在线(NAOL.CA/NAOL.US)记者了然摄影
Investor
'king'
admits sin,
but denies
stealing
Toronto Star
March 28,
2009
Madhavi
Acharya-Tom
Yew
Nicholas
Keung
STAFF
REPORTERS
At first,
the
investment
statements
always came
on time with
the 1 per
cent return
as promised.
But early
this year,
when some of
Weizhen
Tang's
investors
had trouble
getting
their money
back, they
demanded an
explanation,
and Ontario
regulators
started
investigating
allegations
of a Ponzi
scheme.
Tang, who
bills
himself as
"the Chinese
Warren
Buffett" and
"the king of
1 per cent
weekly
returns," is
a prominent
figure in
Toronto's
mostly
Mandarin-speaking
mainland
Chinese
community.
He is
believed to
have at
least 200
clients in
Canada. In
late
February,
Tang sent a
letter to
his clients,
apologizing
for "the sin
that I had
committed"
but insisted
that he did
not steal
investors’
funds.
"I know that
only with
everyone's
supervision
and
assistance,
I can repay
everyone in
around a
year. This
will be the
most sincere
form of
apology,"
Tang wrote.
"Please give
me time. ...
I have
greatly
abused
everyone's
trust in me.
Let me use
my actions
to prove
myself,
restore your
wealth, and
amend for my
sins."
Yesterday,
five
investors
walked into
Toronto
Police's 52
Division to
lodge a
criminal
complaint.
They were
told to
return next
week to
speak with
the fraud
unit.
Their move
comes just
days after
the Ontario
Securities
Commission
froze
accounts
belonging to
Tang, his
companies,
Weizhen Tang
Corp. and
Weizhen Tang
and
Associates
Inc., and
his
investment
fund,
Oversea
Chinese Fund
Limited
Partnership.
The freeze
order, as
well as a
separate one
that
prevents any
stock market
trading,
will be in
place at
least until
April 1
while the
commission
continues
its
investigation.
Tang could
not be
reached for
comment
yesterday.
Reporters
who went to
offices of
Weizhen Tang
Corp., at
the corner
of York and
Adelaide
Sts., in
downtown
Toronto
yesterday,
were
initially
told that
Tang would
speak to
them.
A
spokesperson
who
identified
himself as
Dr. Guo
later told
reporters
that Tang's
lawyer had
instructed
him not to
make any
comment.
"Mr. Tang
is, of
course, not
a perfect
businessman,"
Guo said.
"The truth
will come
out."
"I can
assure you
that my
client is
co-operating
fully with
the
regulator
and that to
date there
have been no
charges of
fraud laid
against my
client,"
Tang's
lawyer, Hugh
Lissaman,
wrote in an
email to
reporters.
At Tang's
home, near
Bayview Ave.
and Steeles
Ave., a
woman who
answered the
door but did
not identify
herself said
that Tang
was not
there. Asked
for comment,
she said,
"It's too
early to say
anything."
News of the
OSC's freeze
order
against Tang
flooded
Chinese-language
news
websites,
blogs and
chat rooms
in North
America,
China and
even Europe.
Bloggers and
columnists
debated
whether Tang
was more
like
Nebraska-born
investor
guru Warren
Buffett, who
has an
estimated
net worth of
$62 billion
(U.S.), or
Bernard
Madoff, the
disgraced
New York
businessman,
recently
convicted of
running a
$65 billion
Ponzi
scheme.
Kelvin Li,
news
director of
the popular
Toronto
Chinese
language
website,
newnews.ca,
said Tang,
who is 51,
immigrated
to Canada
more than 20
years ago
from China
via the U.S.
after
postgraduate
studies
there.
"He is very
high
profile. You
see him
everywhere
at Chinese
community
events,"
said Li. "He
sponsored
the largest
Chinese New
Year
community
galas. He
donated
money to
help victims
of the
devastating
snowstorms
and Sichuan
earthquakes
in China
last year.
He was also
very
involved in
organizing
the mass
protest in
Ottawa
against
pro-Tibet
demonstrations
prior to the
Beijing
Olympics."
Li has
interviewed
many of
Tang's
investors.
He said some
of them are
new
immigrants
with
working-class
backgrounds,
who used
their lines
of credit
and mortgage
money to
come up with
the $150,000
minimum
investment
amount.
Tang also
used the
newnews.ca
website as a
forum to
communicate
with his
investors
and has
published at
least four
public
letters.
In one dated
March 21, he
claimed he
had
mortgaged
his North
York home
for further
investment.
"Part of the
profits I
make, I can
return the
money to
you. If the
money keeps
on rolling,
it would be
no problem
for me to
return the
money to
you. The key
is to give
me time,
give me a
last
chance," he
wrote. "Even
if I have to
be jailed, I
hope I could
at least
return you
the money
first. That
would be
less pain
for me."
That Tang
may have
been
operating a
Ponzi scheme
— where
earlier
investors
are paid
returns
using money
from later
investors,
rather than
any real
profits —
comes from
documents
filed by the
OSC in court
this week.
The
regulator
believes
that about
200
investors
have put
approximately
$68 million
into the
Oversea fund
and $35
million has
been paid
out to date.
The
commission
began its
investigation
in February
2009,
according to
documents
filed in the
Ontario
Superior
Court of
Justice on
March 24.
Tang told
OSC
investigators
that he
traded
stocks,
futures,
stock
options, and
foreign
currencies,
for Oversea.
Investors
signed an
agreement
that Tang
would charge
no fees for
returns of
six per cent
or less;
"However,
for returns
above six
per cent,
Tang would
charge a 25
per cent
'incentive
fee,'." the
documents
read.
According to
one
investor,
"Tang
advised him
that new
investor
money is
being paid
out to old
investors
and admitted
there was no
money left
at this time
in Oversea,"
the filing
says.
Tang also
admitted to
losing $15
million in
2007 but did
not report
this to
Oversea's
investors.
"Tang stated
that
investors in
Oversea are
owed about
$30
million,"
according to
the
documents.
The
commission
asks the
Ontario
court to
issue a
cease-trade
order in
cases where
investors
may be at
risk, said
Kelley
McKinnon,
partner at
Gowling
Lafleur
Henderson,
former
deputy
director of
enforcement
and former
chief
litigation
counsel at
the OSC.
"The
commission
orders a
temporary
cease-trade
when they
have some
evidence of
illegal
activity and
a risk of
ongoing harm
so they want
to stop
trading
while they
continue to
investigate,"
she said.
The
documents
also show
that Tang's
wife, Hong
Xiao is
listed as an
officer and
director
with Weizhen
Tang and
Associates.
Xiao
received a
10-year
suspension
and was
ordered to
pay a
$45,000
(Canadian)
fine by
another
regulatory
agency, the
Investment
Dealers
Association,
in July 2004
for two
counts of
conduct
unbecoming
or
detrimental
to the
public
interest.
She was also
ordered to
repay
another
$5,000 in
commissions.
Tang is
registered
as a limited
market
dealer.
Neither
company is
registered
as an
investment
counsellor
or portfolio
manager in
Ontario.
His last
letter to
clients,
dated March
25, begins
"How
difficult is
it for a
person who
has sinned
and lost all
trust to
stand up
again?
Because I
cannot
timely
return your
investments,
I have
caused you
great pain."
It goes on:
"I sincerely
request that
I be given
another
chance
merely for
the sake of
recovering
your
hard-earned
money and
reviving the
honour of
overseas
Chinese. A
re-emerged
Weizhen Tang
will be in
the best
interest of
all of you."
The letter
ends with a
promise:
"Within two
months, a
new Tang
Weizhen will
emerge! You
will
certainly
receive my
first
repayment!
At that
time, the
whole
society will
witness the
cheers or
accusations!"
In extensive
material on
the
company's
website,
Tang says
that he uses
his years of
experience
in the stock
market and
uses stock
indices,
foreign
exchanges
and futures
for
"reliable
short-term
speculation."
He boasted
of an
average
annual
return rate
of more than
40 per cent
for four
years.
Tang also
held
"investment
summits" —
the latest
one at the
Metro
Toronto
Convention
Centre in
January of
last year —
with
economists
from China
and the
United
States who
were invited
to speak to
prospective
investors.
Among the
guests were
officials
from the
Chinese
consulate in
Toronto.
One alleged
victim, who
came from
the same
Hunan
province as
Tang and
invested
$300,000
with him,
told the
Toronto Star
that Tang's
clients met
regularly to
discuss the
matter in
the last
month but
the majority
of them have
refused to
come forward
and believed
that Tang
could come
up with the
money.
"They were
brainwashed,"
said the
woman, who
asked not be
identified.
She said she
and 14
others were
discouraged
from coming
forward to
authorities
while
clients in
the other
camp are
petitioning
the OSC not
to pursue
charges
against
Tang,
fearing the
action would
stop them
from
claiming any
money back
ever.
Another
investor,
who with his
wife
invested
$500,000
last
September,
said Tang's
initial
clients from
as early as
1999 were
mostly
people from
his hometown
through word
of month,
but in
recent years
the
businessman
has
advertised
heavily in
the local
Chinese
media.
"We were
drawn to him
because of
his promise
of the
weekly 1 per
cent
return,"
said the
man, in his
40s, outside
the police
station.
Like other
alleged
victims, he
refused to
give his
name. "We
trusted
him."
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