HSBC Bank

Miami, FL: (May-04-07) A class action lawsuit was filed against HSBC Bank over the shuttered Pension Fund of America, which was shut down by the US Securities and Exchange Commission in March 2005, alleging that the two South Florida financiers who ran the funds duped investors by misrepresenting fees and costs in order to pocket much of the proceeds upfront. The suit, filed by the investors, claimed that investors poured some $127 million into the Pension Fund of America, which offered life insurance and investments in mutual funds with names such as Liberty Trust and Capital Trust. In a settlement reached, HSBC, a global banking giant, agreed to turn over some $12.8 million in investors' money that was still on deposit in the Pension Fund of America accounts at the bank, along with $10.5 million as part of the settlement. Lawyers claim that some $67 million is still owed to individual and institutional investors, including the Guatemalan Institute for Military Social Security. [MIAMI HERALD: INVESTOR FRAUD]