‘Mini-Madoff’ Held in $300 Million Suspected Currency Plot

Spanish police arrested a man suspected of running a $300 million Ponzi-type fraud in foreign exchange trading that may have affected at least 100,000 investors in Europe, the U.S. and Latin America.

The “mini-Madoff,” dubbed in reference to jailed Ponzi con man Bernard L. Madoff, offered returns of as much as 10 percent to 20 percent monthly for investments in currencies and instead used the money to buy real estate for himself and colleagues, according to a National Police statement today.