The Idaho Department of Finance is warning Idaho investors to be wary of a British company offering high-yield investments in the United States.

Inter-Reef Ltd. of Birmingham, England, doing business as Profitable Sunrise, has offered and sold investment interests to U.S. residents in multiple states, including Idaho. The investments are not registered in Idaho and the owners, Roman Novak and Radoslav Novak, are not licensed to sell investments in Idaho. Numerous securities regulators around the country have taken action or expressed concern about the offerings.

Information about the Profitable Sunrise investment program was provided to investors via an Internet web site, which recently was taken down. Existing investors were urged to recruit friends and relatives into the program and would receive a fee for the referral. Investors were encouraged to develop online businesses to market the program and to develop presentations on social Web sites such as Facebook and YouTube.

Profitable Sunrise offered investors five different programs promising returns of 1.6 percent to 2.7 percent interest per day. The investments were represented to investors to be "risk free" with no chance of default. Investors were told that funds would be used to finance short-term business loans at 3-percent interest per day.

Department of Finance Director Gavin Gee warned that, "Those investors who receive compensation for soliciting other investors may themselves be subject to the licensing and anti-fraud provisions of state and federal securities laws." For this reason, he encourages anyone interested in such activity to check with the department before beginning solicitations.

A copy of the complaint and other information are available on the Internet at http://finance.state.id.us and may be obtained by contacting the department at (208) 332-8000, or toll-free in Idaho at 1-888-346-3378.