(HELSINKI) - An investment club in Finland that drew investments of some 100 million euros (154 million dollars) from around 10,000 people was a scam, police said on Thursday.

Internet-based investment club WinCapita, which had promised members good returns on investments placed in the international currency market, was in fact an illegal pyramid scam, police said.

"Nothing has come up in the investigation that supports the claim that WinCapita had traded currencies," the Finnish national bureau of investigation said in a statement.

About 280 complaints had so far been filed against WinCapita and around six million euros linked to the club had been frozen in Britain and Spain, police said, adding that more of the group's funds abroad were expected to be blocked.

It was not immediately known how much of the investors' money was lost, police said, adding that most of the investors appeared to be Finns.

Finland's Interior Ministry warned last September that WinCapita's operations appeared to be illegal.

Nonetheless, investments continued to flow into the club until its website was closed down on March 7 after it stopped paying profits into its investors bank accounts.

Text and Picture Copyright 2008 AFP. All other Copyright 2008 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable.