Six Held Over '£426m UK Stock Market Fraud'

Six people have been arrested by Spanish police in relation to an alleged $600 million (£426m) pound fraud on the London stock market.

Five Spaniards and one Argentinian were held in Spain as part of a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation into an AIM-listed company called Langbar, which began in 2005.

It has been reported the group created a bogus company, Langbar International, listed it on the London stock market and used false documents and rumours to inflate the share price.

The SFO confirmed the "six people arrested and interviewed were male with ages between 56 to 76 years. They were Spanish nationals except one, an Argentine national".

Police said the Serious Crime Office alleged the massive swindle began in 2003 and involved the fraudulent sale of shares in a fictitious company which had assets totalling £370 million when it began trading on the LSE's AIM market in 2005.

An SFO spokesman said: "Search and arrest operations were undertaken by the Spanish national police together with the economic crime and money laundering group, the superior chief police of Catalunia with the support of the fraud unit Udes Madrid and the local police of Elche (Alicante) alongside SFO investigators of the SFO and City of London Police last week at four residences and two business premises in Madrid, Barcelona and Alicante.

"Six people were arrested and interviewed in relation to the SFO investigation into Langbar International.

"As part of the ongoing investigation into certain individuals previously associated with Crown Corporation Ltd, now Langbar International under new management, the SFO obtained collaboration from the Cuerpo Nacional de Policia and a mutual legal assistance procedure to undertake searches, arrests and interviews. The operations were co-ordinated by Crime Court 24 of Barcelona."

The firm was listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange in October 2003, under the name Crown Corporation Limited. In 2005 it changed its name to Langbar International Limited.

If charged, it is unclear whether the men would be prosecuted in Spain or extradited to the UK.

(JM/BMcC)