PARIS, June 9 (Reuters) – The Paris Criminal Court convicted global payments company Worldpay in a trading scam case on Tuesday, fining it €200,000 ($230,920), French media reported.
The case centered on fraudulent online foreign exchange investment schemes between 2011 and 2014, in which savers were lured with promises of high returns before their money was diverted through accounts around the world.
• Worldpay was found guilty of complicity in the illegal provision of payment services and required to pay two fines of €100,000 each.
• The judges said Worldpay had failed to check information provided by its client Seroph, a Dutch company linked to the fraudulent firms and which used Worldpay payment infrastructure.
• Worldpay transferred €16.82 million to Seroph, the court said.
• The court also sentenced the main fraudsters, located in France and Israel, to penalties of up to three years in prison and 400,000 euros in fines.
• The victims, recruited online and by phone, believed they were investing in the foreign exchange market, with losses estimated to be at least €35 million.
($1 = 0.8661 euros)
(Reporting by Hugo Lhomedet; Editing by Joe Bavier)
