Last Updated Tue, 27 Aug 2002 18:37:18
MONTREAL - A grand jury in Florida has indicted a former
engineer at the Canadian Space Agency on charges he defrauded victims of
millions of dollars.
Investigators say Serdar Kalaycioglu was a key player in an investment scam
that involved a bank in Grenada in the West Indies.
The Meridian Investment Bank, which the indictment says Kalaycioglu headed,
has since had its licence revoked.
Kalaycioglu is living in Montreal and denies the charges. Contacted by CBC,
he says he funds projects and helps small companies raise money from banks.
He says he's been doing business for about a year and he doesn't think he's
broken the law.
The indictment says undercover FBI agents posed as corrupt securities
traders, and that Kalaycioglu offered them $10 million in kickbacks if they
invested $40 million with the Grenada bank.
According to a civil lawsuit filed against Kalaycioglu by businessman Larry
Schweiger in Florida, Meridian Investment Bank promised at least 70 per cent
interest on his investment a month.
But he ended up losing millions of dollars.
Other people may have lost money with the bank, but it's hard to tell because
investors are so ashamed of their losses they won't step forward, a private
investigator says.
The FBI has declared Kalaycioglu a fugitive from justice, but he hasn't been
arrested because nobody has asked Canadian police to do so, says RCMP constable
Richard Huard.
Written by CBC News Online staff
THE END
==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?bUrHhl.bVKZIr Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
