United States authorities are looking for a man who allegedly helped run a multi-million dollar scam from New Zealand involving old railroad bonds.
The whereabouts of Wayne Leslie Davidson, 62, are unknown, but a United States grand jury in Tulsa, Oklahoma has been told Davidson was living in New Zealand at least part of the time the scam was run from 1998 through to 2003.
Davidson was named in an indictment against him and five other defendants today, the Tulsa World newspaper reported.
Prosecutors alleged the men scammed hundreds of investors out of millions of dollars.
An American, Joseph L. Thornburgh, 60, pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering allegations contained in an indictment made public today .
The indictment says these included bonds issued by the Galveston, Houston, and Henderson (GH&H) Railroad -- which raised funds to start track construction in 1853 - and similar bonds issued in China in the early 1900s.
Prosecutors allege investors in New Zealand and Australia were told these "historical bonds" had accumulated hundreds of millions of dollars in interest since the time they were issued and that payment of the interest was still due.
The defendants allegedly told investors that Amtrak and the US Government backed the interest payments due on the US railroad bonds, or that they provided access to large lines of credit to be used in financial trading conducted by major European banks. The grand jury alleged that the defendants knew that the historical bonds had only nominal value as collector's items and no value based on interest payments.
Assistant US Attorney Kevin Leitch said today that "several millions" of dollars were lost by hundreds of investors, many of whom live in Australia and New Zealand. The trial has been started in Oklahoma because four of the alleged victims live there.
Thornburgh was released on a $US25,000 unsecured bond.
