Unlicensed stock consultants nailed
Police raid the gang's office in January.
Five suspects have been arrested for allegedly running an illegal stocks consultation business, Shanghai police said on Monday.
The gang had over 3,200 clients and charged them more than 41 million yuan (US$6.2 million) for recommendations of stocks, police said.
The gang ran a registered consultation business called “Yuanhui,” based in Shanghai, but never acquired a license to offer stock consultations.
The gang allegedly contacted people by phone calls or social networks such as QQ and WeChat and had them pay up to 69,800 yuan for “membership,” promising monthly returns of 6 to 45 percent on recommendations by their “masters.”
The suspects also ran a website called "Guxuantang” for the same purpose.
Most clients were not aware that the gang had no license for such consultation, nor even that such businesses need a specific license, police said.
