GDANSK(BullionStreet): Poland's gold investing company, Amber Gold announced liquidation and promised to pay back all their funds plus interest to its clients.

Amber Gold, accused by financial watchdog KNF of operating without a license said that as of August 13 it closed all of its outlets throughout the country and was terminating all of its deposit contracts with clients.

"In connection with the termination of the deposits by Amber Gold, all customers shall be reimbursed the full amount of principal plus interest accrued to the date of notice of termination and the clients will be informed about the reimbursements by letter", the statement read.

The company also said it would be selling all of its assets in order to meet all the obligations.

It is uncertain whether thousands of depositors who had entrusted the company with some PLN 80 million, lured by promises of interest of up to 16 percent, will ever get any of their money back. The company's president, Marcin Plichta had made similar pledges before, alas without any effect.

Last week, the Gdansk-based lender suspended all pay-outs to clients, blaming a lack of liquidity on banks which canceled their agreements with the company. Plichta told a press conference that the move by banks came after Poland's Financial Supervisory Authority (KNF) issued a public warning about the company.

The KNF had been warning about Amber Gold for several years, placing it on a list along with a number of other companies for operating without a banking license.

Established in 2009 without falling under KNF's supervision, Amber Gold had sold deposit contracts through which it invested clients' money in gold and other instruments, offering investors much higher returns than those being given by regulated banks.

The company went under spotlight late July when OLT Express, a budget airline it had bought earlier this year, filed for bankruptcy. Amber Gold said it was unable to continue funding the carrier or to return the money of thousands of its customers because its bank accounts had been blocked.

It was revealed on this occasion that Plichta had established several failed businesses around Poland previously, and that he had been convicted of embezzlement in 2005.