An investment fraud trial has started in Monaco involving a US businessman and his brokerage firm. The case involves the stockbroker fir...

An investment fraud trial has started in Monaco involving a US businessman and his brokerage firm. The case involves the stockbroker firm Hobbs-Melville, which collapsed in 2000 with debts of €140 million ($168.1 million), according to local press reports. The firm’s owner William Hobbs Fogwell was arrested in Poland in 2001 and extradited to Monaco to face charges of fraud, breach of trust and forgery. Hobbs-Melville attracted wealthy investors with some investing as much as €8 million, according to reports. At the time the Monaco-based stockbroker promised returns of between 30-40 per cent. According to reports, as many as 500 investors have lost money. A class action against Mr Hobbs Fogwell and the stockbroker firm he ran was started by 300 investors.