RAID!!! get your hands up!

NEW YORK -- Federal law enforcement officers began arresting several dozen people suspected of foreign currency trading crimes in a crackdown on a largely unregulated facet of business finance, sources said Tuesday.

Speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, two government sources confirmed that raids were aimed at arresting those named in court papers filed under seal in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

One source said the crimes were committed as investors were cheated by individuals who claimed to be making foreign exchange trades when they were not. The trades were worth millions of dollars, the sources said.

The alleged crimes could be carried out virtually anywhere because the foreign exchange market is a largely unregulated one, one of the sources said.

At least 10 arrests had taken place during a raid at a downtown Manhattan office building, although other arrests were expected in other areas of the East, one source said.

Joe Valiquette, an FBI spokesman, said he could not comment, as did Michael Kulstad, spokesman for U.S. Attorney James B. Comey.

A news conference to announce the arrests was expected to take place on Wednesday.


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