Workers’ unrest at fraud probe firm CWM FX as Manchester office remains empty
A police raid on its London offices has not stopped CWM from pushing ahead with plans to expand into the north of the country. However, the troubled forex trading firm’s plush new Manchester premises are now quieter than it had hoped.
City PM understands that none of the 17 people brought in to make up the northern division’s broking staff is currently working in the office, with some prospective brokers furious at the way they have been treated. Seven left the company yesterday, arguing that they had been offered jobs only to be told several days later that they were on a strict one-week probation period.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, more than one said that they had not been paid and that 10 other workers had not been paid despite having started at the company over two months earlier.
CWM insists that its staff have been paid, arguing that the seven who left the firm yesterday were only on a one-week trial. The other 10 remain on staff and have been paid, the firm said. Those brokers are not working at present because they have been given an extended period of leave following the Easter break, the firm says.
CWM hit the headlines last month after Canada police raided its offices on the 21st floor of the Heron Tower.
The raid, conducted on 3 March, resulted in 13 people being arrested, including chief executive Anthony Constantinou, according to sources.
“CWM believes it has been the victim of a malicious campaign waged against it by persons who harbour a grudge against the company,” it said in a statement at the end of March. Five days earlier, CWM pulled the forex trading function from its website after its platform provider terminated the working agreement.