唐炜臻还能东山再起吗？

“目前我已经刑期完满，和从前一样是一名有本事的自由人。我将恢复被安省证监会抢走的职业生涯，继续为投资者赚取每周1%的回报。”依旧信誓旦旦的唐炜臻对我如是说，大有东山再起之势。

“Now that I’ve done my time serving a sentence, I am as capable and free as before. I will resume my professional career that was robbed away by the OSC, continuing to make 1% a week of return for investors,” said Weizhen Tang, poised to make a comeback after his dramatic fall.

老唐绝不是社区内的一名普通人物。作为一名记者和老唐的朋友，我目睹了他在多伦多的兴衰，是他人生戏剧化转变的见证者， 眼睁睁地看着他从一名著名投资大亨沦为一名骗子和阶下囚。我从他所著《我的巴菲特之路》一书中，我对他自我迷恋的人格特质初有所识，但还是在他那一夜间损失了$6000万的投资骗局被曝光后，才对他有了更多的了解。在他面临安省证监会的欺诈指控并遭到永久交易停牌令后，我一直密切关注他的案件，在他展示交易平台的家中，经历刑事审判的法庭外，以及为其定罪而服刑的监狱中曾多次采访他。

Tang was no ordinary figure in the community. As a reporter and an old friend of Tang, I witnessed his spectacular rise and fall and his rough transition from an investment guru to a convicted fraudster. I caught a glimpse of his addiction to his ego through his book “The King of 1% per week”. But I have seen more of him since the collapse of his investment scheme that wiped out $60 million investment fund overnight.   I had followed his case closely after he faced fraud charges and permanent trading ban by the OSC,  interviewing him repeatedly-- at his home where he displayed his trading terminals, outside of the courthouse where he was going through a criminal trial, and inside the jail where he was serving his sentences.



老唐与许多白领犯罪者一样，从未对其行为感到过一丝懊悔。我于2010年曾在Don Jail中访问过老唐，当时他在等待刑事审判过程中被暂时关押在这里。在这所人满为患，设施简陋，如今已不复存在的狱中，身着橘红色犯人连身衣的老唐出现在我面前。面容憔悴，两眼布满血丝的他却坚信自己的无辜。通过厚厚的玻璃窗和会客对讲机，他告诉我说他根本不是什么骗子，而是一名投资人的保护者，他们的坚强后盾。

Tang was one of those white-collar ex-cons who had never been remorseful for the crimes they’ve committed. I visited Tang in 2010 in Don Jail where he was detained as he awaited criminal trial. In this overburdened facility that no longer exists today, Tang, in a criminal jumpsuit and with haggard look and bloodshot eyes firmly believed of his innocence.  Across the thick glass pane and through the telephone on the meeting counter, he told me that he was not a fraudster and that all he was doing was to protect investors.

“我从来没搞过什么庞氏骗局。那是麦道夫和厄尔琼斯们的把戏。他们把老婆孩子的利益放在首位，而我首先想到的是投资人。你去过我家知道我住什么房子，比你的好不到哪儿去！”

“I have never run a Ponzi scheme… It was Madoff and Earl Jones who run Ponzi. Unlike these people who took care of their wife and kids first, I take my investors as my top priority. You’ve seen that I live in an average home, which is no better than yours,” said Tang.



唐在刑事审判过程中一直坚称自己的清白无辜。他曾给诸如总理斯蒂芬•哈珀和安省省长道尔顿•麦坚迪等公众人物致信，语无伦次地申辩无辜并抨击当局对他的不公。唐还在2010年参加多伦多市长竞选，为获得了900张选票而自鸣得意。他说加国法庭对其刑事定罪不公，称加国司法系统对其构成迫害，并发表言论指责他受到加国司法系统和安省证监会的虐待。他曾指着在其地下室堆积如山的文件跟我说：

Tang had maintained his innocence throughout his trial. He has sent "rambling" letters to public figures such as Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and has "railed" about the injustices he has faced.  Tang registered his name for 2010 mayoral race, taking pride in gaining 900 votes across the city. He felt unfairly convicted and persecuted by the justice system, making comments about his mistreatment by the Canadian court and OSC. He pointed to tons of documents sitting in his basement and said to me:

“你看看，这就是我遭到加国当局迫害的证据！”

“Look! This is the evidence that I faced unfair prosecutions by the Canadian authorities!”



老唐在Kingston的监狱中度过了大部分刑期，同时他还面临着来自投资者们的民事诉讼，这些投资者们辛辛苦苦赚来的积蓄被他的投资骗局吞噬得精光殆尽。出事的老唐还给他的家人们带来无尽痛苦，把他们的正常生活搅得粉碎。在他境遇最惨期间，他的银行账户被冻结，房产被没收，他的老婆孩子不断遭到投资客户的攻击和骚扰。但所有这一切都丝毫没能影响到他自我膨胀的野心，有损他的自认无辜的坚定信念，或伤害他能神奇地创造财富和给投资者带来高额投资回报的自信心。

Tang had served a significant part of his six-year sentence in a Kingston prison. Meanwhile, he faced lawsuits from his investors, whose hard-earned savings were wiped out by his investment schemes. His troubles had shattered the lives of his families causing them incredible pain. At the height of his ordeal, his bank accounts got frozen, his house was foreclosed, and his wife and children faced investors’ harassment and assaults. However, none of these seemed to have hurt his big ego, eroded his beliefs of innocence or his faith in his ability to churn out investment returns magically. 

“这十年的磨难让我从无论个人还是职业上都更成熟了，”在宣布重新出山的新闻发布会后，老唐坚定地对我说道。“我这次集资的数额更高，目标直指数十亿元。我的客户将不仅仅为个体投资者，还将扩展至公司和企业！”

“The decade of hardship has only assisted my personal and professional growth, “ the proud Tang said to me assertively last week, after a press conference announcing his comeback. “ The fund I am raising is much bigger this time around,  targeting billions of dollars.  My clients won’t be individual investors only but also institutional ones!”



他的话让我深感忧虑，不知道在这个给吹嘘高回报率的投资诈骗提供广大市场的华人社区，老唐是否会掀起另一轮的骗局高潮，让更多人沦为受害者和牺牲品。

His remarks made me deeply concerned. In a community vulnerable to investment scams offering a crazy rate of return, I wonder whether he will bring another wave of financial tsunami, turning many into his prey again.

上周，安省证监会发布新闻消息，警告安省投资者远离老唐。安省证监会新闻称，安生证监会向老唐发布永久禁令，不准许他进入安省资本市场，且他所拥有的所有公司都不准许向安省居民集资，或向其提供投资建议，购买或兜售证券或金融产品。

Earlier last week, the OSC issued a news release, warning Ontario investors not to invest with him. Mr. Tang is permanently banned from participating in Ontario’s capital markets, and none of the companies associated with him are permitted to solicit investments from Ontario residents or to provide advice on investing in, buying or selling securities, according to the news release.

从不服软的唐炜臻就安省证券监管机构发表的警告称，他很高兴证监会的消息再次让他成为新闻人物。“我没有什么可怕的。我可以在安省以外重操旧业。离开安省你就管不着我了！”

The defiant Tang reacted to the warning by the province securities regulator by saying that he is happy that he has made the news again. “I have nothing to worry about. I could continue my practice in provinces other than Ontario, where the OSC has no jurisdiction.”