Staff of Aussie Firm Held Hostage in Shanghai Office for 6 Days

The employees of an Australian foreign exchange firm have all been freed after being held hostage for almost a week in the company's Shanghai office.

Sydney-based brokerage firm Union Standard Group Forex (USGFX) said that some of its employees had been taken hostage during a raid of the office by a group of around 50 men on July 19.

According to the company, dozens of unarmed men stormed the office, threatening violence, confiscating phones and cutting off communication to headquarters. 

Initially 20 employees were taken, though all but four — three Chinese and one Taiwanese — were soon released. The four were held overnight, with one woman eventually allowed to leave. 

The remaining three individuals were finally released on July 24 after multiple attempts to negotiate.

At least one of the three suffered from minor injuries. Though paramedics were allowed to access the office, they were unable to treat the hostages for reasons that remain unclear.

Upon request from the staff, the employees were provided food and water.

The stand-off began when the men, sent on behalf of disgruntled traders in northeast China, came to protest hefty losses allegedly incurred from trading with the broker. The investors blamed USGFX for losing more than USD2.6 million in foreign currency trades and were seeking compensation.

Images from the company's surveillance cameras showed dozens of casually-dressed men occupying the conference room and sleeping on office furniture.

Company spokesperson Justin Pooni told ABC News that they were cooperating with authorities to resolve the matter. He added:

"We've been in operation for over 11 years around the world and nothing like this has ever happened before. So it's a very strange and bizarre situation."

Pooni later told the Financial Times that the final three employees were taken to a nearby police station shortly after their release to assist with the investigation.

[Images via ABC News]

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