The European authorities have broken a network of people who, through investment fraud with cryptomes, have prepared more than 100 victims of at least € 100 million. Police have made raids in several countries and detained five people, including the alleged group leader who suspects extensive fraud and money laundering. This was reported by the EU agency for judicial cooperation in criminal matters (Eurojust), which coordinated the joint operation, TASR writes, according to the AFP report.
- The European authorities have broken a network of cryptomen investment fraudsters.
- Fraud has prepared more than 100 victims by one hundred million euros.
- The raids took place in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Romania and Bulgaria.
- They detained the alleged organizer and frozen the suspects accounts.
- Fraudulent schemes have been operating in more than 23 countries since 2018.
During the raids that took place last week, the authorities searched five sites in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Romania and Bulgaria, where they also frozen bank accounts and other financial assets of alleged offenders. Lithuanian authorities also participated in the event.
Fraudsters promised their victims huge income from investment in cryptocurrencies through professionally designed Internet platforms. Much of these investments were mainly redirected to bank accounts in Lithuania in order to wash off income.
“When the victims tried to recover their investments back, they were asked to pay additional fees that the website used for fraud disappeared. Subsequently, investors lost the majority, in some cases even all their money,“It says in the statement of Eurojust.
The fraudulent system has been operating at least since 2018, and approximately 23 countries have been affected. Damaged persons came from various European countries, including Germany, France, Italy and Spain.
