Firms at centre of scam allegation 'no longer operating'

The Isle of Man government issued a statement following the BBC investigation

Firms at the centre of scam allegations are "no longer in operation" after action was taken by the authorities, the Isle of Man government has said.

It follows an investigation by BBC World Service that found a hotel and former bank offices on the island had been used by scammers conning victims in China out of millions of dollars.

The government said it had a “zero-tolerance attitude towards” alleged international criminal activities.

The Isle of Man Constabulary said the force was unable to comment as an investigation was ongoing.

• China scam run from Isle of Man

The BBC investigation found "MIC" or Manx Internet Commerce, was part of a group of companies - all with the same owner.

An online casino, run by King Gaming Ltd, was the most prominent.

It found MIC was first based at a hotel in Douglas, before moving to former bank offices in the east of the city.

Six people who worked for them in Douglas have now been convicted of carrying out scams against Chinese citizens, after going home to China, .

The Chinese court, which heard the cases late last year, said about £4.17m had been taken from at least 12 victims.

'Robust response'

In April, the Isle of Man Constabulary raided the former bank offices and another address in Douglas.

The force said the raids had been in connection with a wider fraud and money laundering investigation in relation to King Gaming Ltd IOM.

Seven people were arrested and released on bail at that time, and a further three people were arrested in May.

The island's gambling regulator has stripped MIC's gambling affiliate companies of their licences.

A Manx government statement said it was “aware of increased media reporting surrounding a business that operated on the Island, which has been subject to significant multi-agency responses to disrupt and close down alleged international criminal activities”.

“The robust response by the Isle of Man Constabulary, Gambling Supervision Commission and other government agencies that led to the disruption and closure of businesses at the centre of these concerns demonstrates that, as an island, matters of this nature are taken extremely seriously and that government will not hesitate to act in such situations," it added.

“As the various matters are subject to ongoing criminal investigations, we are unable to offer any further comment at this stage.

“We do, however, wish to reaffirm that significant and wide-reaching action has been taken and that the businesses involved at the centre of these allegations are no longer in operation as a result of the actions taken by government.”