Amman  - Jordanian Prime Minister Nader Dahabi on Monday referred six new firms involved in trading with foreign bourses and currency markets to the State Security Court (SSC) on "suspected fraud", an official statement said.

The move brought to eight the number of firms referred to the SSC in a week under the provisions of the Economic Crimes Law after thousands of Jordanian citizens claimed the companies failed to repay them tens of millions of dollars they deposited with them.

According to the Minister of Industry and Trade Amer Hadidi, some of the firms sued had failed to rectify their positions in accordance with the recently enacted Foreign Bourses Law and claimed bankruptcy before returning funds to their clients.

Dahabi told members of the financial committees in the two houses of parliament on Monday that 33 owners and partners in the involved firms were barred from leaving the country and that their assets had been placed under custody pending the court's decision.

The measures taken by the government against the sued firms had a negative impact on the Amman Stock Exchange the all-share price index of which plunged about 10 per cent over the past week, analysts said. (dpa)