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Wed 11 Nov 2008Colombia declares state of emergency over money scams
COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT officials have declared a state of emergency, boosting their powers of arrest and money seizure to help deal with multimillion-dollar investment scams that have targeted mostly poor investors.
The measure was introduced after panic spread among investors across Colombia last week when one suspect financial agency halted payments. Disturbances broke out in 12 states, police said, and investors stormed offices in the southwestern cites of Pasto and Popayan, threatening to lynch the managers.
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