A Hawai'i Kai couple and two others were arrested yesterday after being indicted Thursday for allegedly trying to bilk $100 million from a wealthy investor.

The couple, Syed K. Qadri, 33, and Patricia M. Roszkowski, were indicted on four counts of wire fraud along with Jeffrey Greenhut and Ruben Carrillo Gonzalez.

Prior to their appearance in court yesterday, more than a dozen federal agents with the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Internal Revenue Service raided the couple's downtown offices and a Kahala home they rent.

According to the indictment, the couple used two companies — Amasse Capital LLC and Solomon & Co. — along with a false prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to create the illusion they were at the helm of several high volume securities trading firms in a high-yield investment scheme.

Qadri, Roszkowski and Greenhut claimed to have more than a decade of experience in international finance, mergers and acquisitions, securities trading venture capital and asset management. None of them had any of the experience they claimed to have, according to the indictment. And none are licensed to trade securities in Hawai'i, according to the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

As part of the alleged scheme, the couple told an investor they traded an average of $500 million every two days and up to $10 billion in volume per month. The investor was told his $100 million investment was guaranteed and risk-free, and that he would receive annual returns of at least 60 percent with the possibility of 100 to 400 percent monthly rates of return, according to the indictment.

HIGH-YIELD PROMISES

The companies made limited investments and in fact incurred losses from bond trading, according to the indictment.

The investor was told his millions would be part of a high-yield investment that would generate a high rate of interest, and that he would have online access to an account that would allow him to track the investment's progress.

The indictment alleges the couple planned on using the money for personal gain.

Authorities have frozen Qadri's bank accounts, confiscated the couples' automobiles and their passports.

Qadri and Roszkowski were arrested yesterday at their office on the fifth floor of the Alakea Corporate Tower at the corner of Alakea and Hotel streets. Greenhut, who has a Hawai'i Kai address, was arrested in San Diego, and Gonzalez, who has a Madrid, Spain, address, was arrested in Arizona.

If convicted, they each face up to 20 years in prison on each count.

NOT-GUILTY PLEAS

Qadri and Roszkowski pleaded not guilty yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi and are scheduled for trial Oct. 31. Qadri will remain in custody until a detention hearing Thursday, and Roszkowski was released on $100,000 bond.

Assistant U.S. attorney Chris A. Thomas, who is prosecuting the case, declined comment, citing an ongoing criminal investigation. Charles L. Goodwin, special agent in charge of the FBI's Honolulu division, also declined comment.

Loretta Faymonville, assistant federal public defender who represented Qadri at yesterday's hearing, said she had no immediate comment on the allegations. Richard Kawana, an attorney representing Roszkowski, did not return a call seeking comment.

A group of federal agents was at the couple's office yesterday afternoon. One agent wearing an FBI windbreaker said they would have no comment and directed calls to the main FBI office.

According to the indictment, to influence the credit limit on a Platinum Plus credit card from Bank of Hawaii, the couple made false statements to the Federal Deposit and Insurance Corporation claiming Solomon & Co. LLC was receiving $10 million in gross revenue, and that they owned the 814 Keala'olu Ave. home.

The Kahala home is owned by a Belvedere, Calif., woman, according to real estate records.

The investigation into the company's actions is ongoing, and extends to the Amasse Capital LLC's board of directors.