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IN PHOTO: Australian one dollar coins are displayed in this photo illustration taken in Sydney July 27, 2011. Australian consumer prices rose by more than expected last quarter while underlying inflation proved alarmingly high, reviving pressure for an increase in interest rates and lifting the local dollar to a 29-year peak. REUTERS/Tim Wimborne

Two fraudsters of a multimillion-dollar investment scam has been sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment by a Gold Coast court on Thursday. The scam involved hundreds of victims who have been ripped off their money by fraudulent investment companies.

The men, Liam Carlisle, 31, and Matthew Crouch, 34, were sentenced in the South Port District Court on charges of fraudulent activities that amount to a value of more than AU$30,000 over a span of one year, between December 2010 and December 2011. These two men have been arrested after 8-month joint agency operation zeroed in on a fraud ring that involved about 400 victims and around AU$6 million, the Gold Coast Bulletin reported.

Acting Detective Superintendent Terry Lawrence, Commander of the QPS Fraud and Cyber Crime Group, said that the arrest and subsequent sentencing of the 2 men are results of rigorous multi-agency probe. “The QPS received more than 400 complaints from individuals who had invested more than AU$6 million into Gold Coast-based companies purporting to be investment firms,” he said.

Lawrence also said that many of the victims are looking to recoup the money that they had lost to the fraudulent companies after suffering financial blow as a result of the Global Financial Crisis. These victims were coaxed to invest in schemes through index trading. With the hope to earn bigger returns, most of these victims have invested their life’s savings with these swindling companies.

According to the News.com.au, Lawrence advised the people to be “fraud aware” by being careful of get-rich investments and assessing the scheme properly and patiently before investing. He also said that consulting a professional before making an investment into such schemes would also save a lot of damage to the people and their money. “It is important to remind people legitimate brokerage firms do not cold call members of the public to solicit investments,” he said.

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