A few months ago, I wrote a post warning people about an obvious Ponzi scheme – Stoic Capital.. The post generated numerous comments. From the comments, we can see that there are still people who are taken in by Stoic.
Note: The scam Stoic Capital (stoic-capital.com) is not to be confused with Stoic Capital Pte Limited (https://stoic.com.sg/), a legitimate company regulated by MAS in Singapore.
Therefore, I decided to talk with Stoic’s chat operator and see whether they can stand up to my questions. The full transcript follows below. Will you invest with a firm that:
- tells you not to look for them in their office and if you do, you will be chased away?
- does no anti-money laundering checks as is required by all regulated funds?
- can make 2%+ every day without fail no matter which direction the market moves? A $5 million investment will compound into almost $1 billion in a year.
Peter:
Welcome to Stoic Capital customer service.
How may I help you?
Roy:
Hi Peter
Roy:
I am looking at investing a sum of money with Stoic. Can you tell me more about how it works?
Peter:
Sure, sir.
Peter:
You simply sign up for a new account
Peter:
You deposit the amount of money you want to
Peter:
With no maximum
Peter:
According to the amount of your deposit you will enter a category
Peter:
Start: investment amount:10-999$
Daily profit:1.4%-1.8%
Classic:1000-4999$
Daily profit:1.7%-2.2%
Premium:5000-19,999$
Daily profit:2.0%-2.4%
VIP: more than 20,000$
Daily profit:2.2%-2.8%
Roy:
What is the return like? I am looking at investing around US$5 million for a period of 1year.
Roy: (after a few minutes)
Peter, are you still there?
Peter:
Yes, sir.
Roy:
Can you tell me the returns I would get at the end of 1 year?
Peter:
You will then enter the VIP investors.
Roy:
Is there a VVIP one? Anyway, so how much in dollar terms will that work out to be?
Peter:
$307,349,062.00 / $540,135,454.70 / $944,864,790.50
Roy:
what do the 3 different numbers mean?
Peter:
If you choose 100% compounding
Roy:
Are the returns and principal guaranteed?
Roy: (after a few minutes)
Peter, are the returns and principal guaranteed?
Peter:
Yes,sir.
Roy:
How is the guarantee achieved?
Roy:
You know recently, we have a number of bank failures. Even Citibank is shaky. Who provides the guarantee in your case?
Roy: (after a few minutes)
Are you there Peter? Did you get my previous question?
Roy: (after a few more minutes)
Peter?
Roy: (more waiting)
If you can’t answer my question, it’s very difficult for me to invest the full sum with you guys. I might reduce to just $100,000 to test it out.
Peter:
Sorry, sir. I am checking the information for you.
Roy:
Ok. What have you got?
Peter:
You will be able to put all the amount of money you want, sir.
Roy:
Yes, I know. I was asking about the guarantee.
Peter:
And yes you will recieve all the funds
Roy:
Who provides the guarantee?
Peter:
The system will send you a verification e-mail after the 190 business days are over
Peter:
This e-mail for your own security
Roy:
How does Stoic provide the guarantee?
Peter:
Guarantees:
The Stoic distributes assets on numerous markets. Apart from ordinary shares we invest in monetary market instruments (treasury bills, deposit certificates etc.), and also in derivative securities (futures, options, warrant certificates etc.)
-We profit not from the market rise, but from the Variability. Thus Stoic stays stable and reliable and pays interest as agreed.
If u invest with us, you will receive daily profit statistics which will be sent to your e-mail. Stoic Guarantees a daily profit (according to the investment plan you choose) and insures the safety of your deposit.
When making a deposit, your consent with our Terms of Service is equall to signing a contract on a paper and it is valid.
Roy:
Is Stoic rated AAA?
Roy:
Does that mean no matter which direction the market moves, Stoic can still make the returns of 2+% every day without fail? From your investments in treasury bills and derivatives?
Peter:
Yes, sir.
Roy:
That sounds good. So is Stoic rated AAA?
Peter:
I have no information about this, sir.
Roy:
Where are you guys incorporated?
Peter:
– The Stoic is a guaranteed hedge fund established by Stoic Capital Management Inc. registered with the legislation of Seychelles. (Legal address: 306 Victoria House, Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles.) The Stoic was established in August 2007, but has been to public by February 2008.
Main & Mailing address:
Stoic Capital Management Inc.
Golden Cross House,
456-458 Strand, Westminster,
London, United Kingdom, WC2R 0DZ
Company manager: Mr. William Cagney
Roy:
So you are regulated by FSA in UK?
Peter:
Yes, sir.
(Stoic is of course not regulated by FSA. A check can be done at http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register/firmSearchForm.do)
Roy:
How do I arrange a meetup with your company manager?
Peter:
Regarding the London office address – that is a big multi-floor and multi-office building and it is not open for walking visitors or solicitation. We have more then 10 thousand clients and 99.99% inquiries should be easily resolved online. Very seldom we have meetings with our VIP investors only and only in case we scheduled this meeting for some really serious reason. So, nobody may just walk in – the security will intercept and prohibit from such visitors and may say that there is no solicited visits allowed, or that such company is not available or just kick out such visitor.
There is no need to say that you work from London office. Due to the live-chat and support is 24×7 the out-source operators are involved from several time-zones.
Possibly that was your conversation with competitor’s fake-voter whose aim was to find some uncertainty to compromise our image for public then or that was just an insane person.
Roy:
I can arrange for your company manager to meet at my place. My office is quite conveniently located.
Peter:
Stoic Capital Management Inc.
Golden Cross House,
456-458 Strand, Westminster,
London, United Kingdom, WC2R 0DZ
Roy:
So, can we arrange a meeting?
Peter:
Kindly send our technical support and arrange this
Roy:
Aren’t you the technical support?
Peter:
No, we are the live chat support “customer support”
Roy:
How do I reach the technical support?
Peter:
Send to the support [email protected]
Roy:
Ok. I will arrange with them.
Peter:
Sure, sir.
Peter:
Telephone support for VIP investors only: +44 207 419 5037
(8.00 a.m. – 5.00 p.m. GMT, business days) Fax: +44 207 900 1905
Roy:
Last thing, how do I transfer the money to you guys?
Peter:
You can also call us.
Roy:
Because I have an issue with cross-border transfers. Especially if anti-money laundering checks are in place.
Peter:
Via Liberty Reserve and Perfect Money
Peter:
Or you can bank wire
Roy:
Will that be a problem with Stoic?
Peter:
No, sir.
Roy:
Do you need to check the source of my funds?
Peter:
No, sir.
Roy:
That’s good
Roy:
I will call the number later.
Roy:
Thanks for your help.
Peter:
You are more than welcome.
Roy:
Please tell William to standby for my call.
Roy:
Bye
Peter:
Goodbye.
