BRISBANE, Australia (20 Mar 2004) -- A BRISBANE man allegedly attempted to fleece money from investors to search for sunken treasure in shipwrecks off South-East Asian islands. Christopher Paul Woolgrove, 40, has been charged for running an unregistered managed investment scheme and will appear in the Brisbane Magistrate's Court in May. Woolgrove, who recently moved to New Farm from South Australia, has been the subject of several Commonwealth prosecutions over sunken treasure hunts. In 1995 he was banned for life from operating in the securities industry and in 1998 was convicted for illegally raising money to mount a shipwreck hunt. Australian and New Zealand investors had sunk nearly $1 million into Woolgrove's scheme in 2000 when the Australian Securities and Investments Commission issued a public warning about his activities. Yesterday, ASIC and the Australian Federal Police announced that Woolgrove had been arrested and would face fresh charges. Woolgrove's Hatcher Unit Trust allegedly promised investors returns of up to 1365 per cent. The company's website boasts that "75 per cent of all the gold found by man over the last 6000 years is lying at the bottom of the ocean". "Due to the advent of technology it is envisaged that all salvageable wrecks will be recovered in the next 10 to 20 years." | | ACCUSED: Christopher Woolgrove Would-be investors are invited to apply for an information pack on how to help finance the salvage operations. The website lists other shipwreck finds from around the world in which hundreds of millions of dollars in artefacts had been discovered. ASIC warned that Woolgrove's treasure hunts had yielded "minimal artefacts". He appeared in the Brisbane Magistrate's Court on Thursday and he was granted bail until May 7, when the matter will be raised for further mention. SOURCE - Courier-Mail |
