The island’s police chief has confirmed that four police investigations are under way into international fraud.

Speaking on Manx Radio this week, the Chief Constable Russ Foster said that hundreds of millions of pounds had been defrauded by island-based businesses with links to South East Asia.

And he claimed that the Isle of Man had been cited in an United Nations report on shifting trends in transnational crimes precisely because the island has been been proactive in tackling that criminality.

He said: ‘We have a number of investigations ongoing, particularly around South East Asian communities who have brought business to the island, and have behind that business defrauded significant numbers of victims of hundreds of millions of pounds.

‘There's four investigations ongoing, which are rather complex, so it is a real challenge for us.

‘Again, we are being exploited, but equally, we have intensified our efforts.

‘We have introduced the proactive international money laundering investigation team. The clue is in the title - they have been extremely proactive.

‘Hence why you've seen examples which have been alluded to in the media around the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, whereby the Isle of Man features 26 times. I’ve read the report.

‘The reason we featured 26 times is because we've been proactive in terms of tackling that element of criminality.’