澳洲经纪商三名上海员工重获人身自由

An Australian brokerage said on Tuesday that three remaining staff being held hostage by angry investors in Shanghai had been freed and were helping police with an investigation after a bizarre stand-off that lasted almost a week.

一家澳大利亚经纪商周二表示，在持续近一周的离奇对峙后，在上海被愤怒的投资者扣留的最后三名员工已重获人身自由，并协助警方进行调查。

As many as 50 investors who blame Sydney-based Union Standard Group Forex for losses of about $2.6m in foreign currency trades entered the company’s Shanghai office on Wednesday last week. Images from the office’s cameras showed dozens of casually dressed people sprawled on furniture and sitting in company meeting rooms.

多达50名投资者指责总部位于悉尼的联准国际金融集团(USGFX)造成外汇交易损失约260万美元，他们于上周三闯入该公司上海办事处。办公室摄像头拍下的影像显示，几十名身着休闲装的人或靠在家具上，或坐在公司会议室里。

The company said 20 staff members had initially been held hostage and that all but three were released on Friday.

该公司表示，最初有20名员工被扣留，除三名员工以外其余人均于上周五被释放。

“The final three staff members are free and have been taken to a local police station to assist police with further investigation into this matter,” Justin Pooni, marketing manager at USGFX, told the Financial Times.

联准国际金融集团营销经理贾斯丁•普尼(Justin Pooni)告诉英国《金融时报》：“最后的三名员工已重获人身自由，并被带到当地派出所协助警方进一步调查此事。”

Real returns from bank deposits have been consistently low in China and stock market performance underwhelming, prompting investors to seek higher-yielding products. Some such products have been exposed in recent years as fraudulent pyramid schemes, sparking protests by investors when they are exposed.

在中国，银行存款实际回报持续较低，且股市表现不佳，促使投资者寻求更高收益的产品。近年来，部分此类产品被揭露为欺诈传销活动，在真相暴露后往往引发投资者抗议。

Investors who lost money in a metals trading scheme staged demonstrations in 2015, gathering outside the headquarters of China’s securities regulator. Protesters also took to the streets over a $7.6bn Ponzi scheme called Ezubao.

2015年，在一个金属交易机制中亏损的投资者举行示威游行，他们聚集在中国证监会总部外。抗议者还曾因名为“易租宝”(Ezubao)的76亿美元庞氏骗局走上街头。

In a statement on Tuesday, USGFX said the disgruntled investors were “heavily shorting” the Australian dollar against the US dollar and had continued adding multiple short positions “until their accounts were exhausted”. It added that the trades were the responsibility of clients and it “had no part” in them.

联准国际金融集团在周二的一份声明中表示，这些心怀不满的投资者“大量做空”澳元兑美元，并持续增加多个空头头寸，“直到其账户被用尽”。该公司还表示这些交易是客户的责任，它“没有任何参与”。

On its Chinese web site, USGFX says: “Customers can invest in a relaxed way, and don’t need to worry their losses will be greater than their total assets”, adding that clients can withdraw all their funds in less than 48 hours. The company’s account on Chinese social network WeChat described its products as having the “highest capital safety”.

联准国际金融集团的中文网站上写道，客户可以轻松投资，而不用担心亏损超过净值，而且客户还可以在48小时内提取所有资金。该公司在中国社交网络微信(WeChat)的公众号上称，其产品拥有最高的资本安全。

USGFX had in recent months advertised its services at expos around China, with foreign women in short skirts and midriff-baring tops attempting to attract customers, according to the WeChat account. “Beautiful models allowed the crowd to relax,” said an account of one such event.

根据该微信公众号，最近几个月，USGFX在中国各地的博览会上宣传其服务，由身穿短裙和露脐上衣的外国女性来吸引顾客。“漂亮的模特可以让观众放松，”介绍此类活动之一的一个帖子称。

The end of the USGFX stand-off followed a protest in Beijing on Monday involving hundreds of people who invested in what they called a pyramid scheme.

在USGFX僵局结束之前，周一北京爆发了一场数百人参加的抗议活动，这些人投资了他们所称的“金字塔骗局”。

Police last week detained executives from a company called Shanxinhui, accusing them of operating a pyramid investment structure disguised as a charity.

上周，中国警方拘留了一家名为“善心汇”的公司的高管，指控他们经营一家伪装成慈善机构的传销组织。

After the protest in Beijing brought traffic to a standstill, police said members of Shanxinhui were “incited by those with ulterior motives to come to Beijing and illegally gather, seriously disturbing social order in the capital”.

此次抗议活动导致北京部分交通中断，警方表示，“部分‘善心汇’会员被别有用心之人煽动来京非法聚集，严重扰乱了首都社会秩序”。