Hi everyone - I'm new to all this. Can anyone offer me any advice - I have 15000 royal petroleum corp shares purchased in 2007, suddenly out of the blue I have had a call from Asian direct capital management who want to buy my shares? They have asked me to fill in a BD51-FORM and send it off to them. Is this a scam & should I be worried? I have not parted with any money - they seem only interested in purchasing my share certificates? Anyway advise would be appreciated - thanks.
Black Jack
Junior member
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The best way to find out is to check on the FCA register whether or not the firm appears on it. If it is then they are a regulated organisation and you will have the protection of the FCA as they have to abide by the regulations set out by them. If they are not then I would suggest that you do not touch them with a bargepole.
security+kho
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V glad to see your post as we got exactly the same approach (out of the blue) from Asian direct capital management (ADCM) in mid-May for shares in a US IT company we bought back in 2001. We sent back the BD51 form, then we received the next set of documents which consist of 3 forms, with a condition that there is some Indemnity Bond that we've to pay up first but will be refunded back to us upon completion of the transaction. We objected to the concept of the Indemnity Bond as we see no benefit in it for us, and we are not prepared to pay out any money up-front. We said we'd not proceed unless the Indemnity Bond is excluded. Will appreciate if you can share any of your further dealings with ADCM via the forum. We'll also keep you updated if ADCM becomes negotiable on the Indemnity Bond issue. Have you checked out their web-site, what are your thoughts ? I'm not sure how up-to-date the content is, as I found out that they are not currently registered with the American SEC, but on the web-site they claim they are.
EdwardLock
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Help! I have been scammed by Asian Direct Capital Managemnet.
I was approached back in February by a Mr Richard Parker of ADCM with an offer to buy my Royal Bank of Scotland shares. He seemed to know about me, my share holdings, phone and email details. I was obviously suspicious but in all the research I did they seemed to exist with an impressive website. They claimed to be registered with the Securities Exchange Commission CIK 0001307200 Hong Kong Register Cr:#0011177.
I filled in a BD51 form and a Purchase agreement form - all which looked formal and proper. I was asked to pay a 15% Refundable Vendor Bond to an Escrow account handled by Escrow And Trading Corp Ltd also in Hong Kong. Foolishly (I now realise) I transferred this money to a HSBC bank account in Hong Kong in the name of D.H. Corporation Ltd. I got a confirmation back of this transfer. I was then asked to fill in a W-8BEN form which was a Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Witholding. This was back in April and things went quiet for a while. In June I received 3 more forms saying that in order to complete the transaction of the sale of the shares I would have to pay a 30% (!) Backup Witholding on Capital Gains Tax to the US IRS because I was not a US citizen. I did not understand this at all and it did not make any sense so I wrote to them several times saying that I did not want to proceed with the sale and wanted them to return my Refundable Vendor Bond. I was rung several times by Mr Richard Parker urging me to complete the deal as we were '99% there'. I repeated on the phone and with subsequent emails that they deal was off and to return my money. This was over a week ago and I have heard nothing from them. The websites http://www.asiandirectcapitalmanagement.com/
and http://www.escrowandtradingcorp.com/escrow.html
are down and not available.
So I think I have been scammed and I have lost my money.
Anyone else been as stupid as me? Any advice on recovering my funds or who I should contact to pursue these fraudsters?
I was approached back in February by a Mr Richard Parker of ADCM with an offer to buy my Royal Bank of Scotland shares. He seemed to know about me, my share holdings, phone and email details. I was obviously suspicious but in all the research I did they seemed to exist with an impressive website. They claimed to be registered with the Securities Exchange Commission CIK 0001307200 Hong Kong Register Cr:#0011177.
I filled in a BD51 form and a Purchase agreement form - all which looked formal and proper. I was asked to pay a 15% Refundable Vendor Bond to an Escrow account handled by Escrow And Trading Corp Ltd also in Hong Kong. Foolishly (I now realise) I transferred this money to a HSBC bank account in Hong Kong in the name of D.H. Corporation Ltd. I got a confirmation back of this transfer. I was then asked to fill in a W-8BEN form which was a Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Witholding. This was back in April and things went quiet for a while. In June I received 3 more forms saying that in order to complete the transaction of the sale of the shares I would have to pay a 30% (!) Backup Witholding on Capital Gains Tax to the US IRS because I was not a US citizen. I did not understand this at all and it did not make any sense so I wrote to them several times saying that I did not want to proceed with the sale and wanted them to return my Refundable Vendor Bond. I was rung several times by Mr Richard Parker urging me to complete the deal as we were '99% there'. I repeated on the phone and with subsequent emails that they deal was off and to return my money. This was over a week ago and I have heard nothing from them. The websites http://www.asiandirectcapitalmanagement.com/
and http://www.escrowandtradingcorp.com/escrow.html
are down and not available.
So I think I have been scammed and I have lost my money.
Anyone else been as stupid as me? Any advice on recovering my funds or who I should contact to pursue these fraudsters?
Sonicscooter
Experienced member
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Mr Nosey Parker.
W-8BEN sounds like a standard bend over form.
Dick.Head. Corporation Ltd
W-8BEN sounds like a standard bend over form.
Dick.Head. Corporation Ltd
jotekfinance
Active member
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Pretty much every government has a financial fraud department. I would say yeah, you were pretty much taken and should contact the HK authorities.
Atilla
Legendary member
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Hi, The good news is your money is not lost! You’ve unwittingly put your money toward the Asian Development Fund. In this fund it is split among the participants that have made your donation possible. Each of those participants then spends it among friends, family and in the local economies. Of course since the rule of “easy come, easy go” applies to this money, it is spent much more feely than you yourself would have spent. Your money is spent in bars, restaurants and Apple products (hope you have Apple stock). If you doubt the noble gesture you have made, think of a poor girl from a rural country side, forced by the ignorance of her family to get “a job”. She of course takes the easy road and works in a bar, a bar that your donation will soon be supporting. Thanks to your money, this girls evening performance will be rewarded, supplying her family with needed support and giving her value in among her peers. As her confidence and English improves, so does her outlook. Granted there are other ways to go about improving the lives of others, but hey, at least it’s more than your friends gave.
At the end of the day, take solace that your money is not lost, instead you’ve provided for many people in many circles of an emerging economy, and your involuntary contribution is appreciated.
EdwardLock
Newbie
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I was hoping for a more helpful reply.
W-8BEN form does exist - http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw8ben.pdf
The Asian Direct Capital Management website has disappeared
http://www.asiandirectcapitalmanagement.com/
and now seems to have become - Asia Capital Management
http://acmhk.com/
Presumably another scam site?
