Police Forces in Belgium, France, and Israel Stop Scam Promising 35% Return of Crypto Investment
Police forces in Belgium, France, and Israel are reported to have stopped international fraud that promised a high return of up to 35% on crypto investments. Large private French companies and French local authorities are said to be among the 85 victims of this network. In total, 10 suspects related to this case have been arrested.
International Investment Fraud € 6 Million
Belgian Police Judiciaire Fédérale and Israeli Police have dropped a large network suspected of being involved in money laundering and binary investment scam, Europol announced. An unnamed person who has been convinced of carbon tax scam is suspected to be the mastermind behind the fraud.Investigations into this network will begin in 2018, Europol said. In early 2019, four suspects were arrested in France. And at the end of 2019, five other suspects were arrested in Israel with the support of an international task force formed by European agents.
The group is suspected of establishing an online platform that promises high returns on investment in cryptocurrency as well as gold and diamonds. Victims are promised between 5 and 35% return on investment, and group members pretend to successfully manage their accounts for them in the beginning and then encourage them to invest more money.
A French private company and French local authority are said to be among 85 network victims. The scam was believed by investigators to be responsible for cheating at least € 6 million. Investigators also found invoices worth several million euros, which his group members had not yet taken. More than € 1 million has been confiscated by the authorities of the network account.
"Criminal groups are calling, offering huge profits on investments in bitcoin up to 35%," explained the European Union's Criminal Justice Cooperation Agency, Eurojust. "To gain their trust, victims initially get a small profit from this investment, thus encouraging them to invest further. The victim was then deceived because of the next payment. This was transferred to a fake company, which had been established for this purpose by OCG [Organized Criminal Group]. Profits are then quickly transferred through bank accounts in the other EU Member States to bank accounts in various Asian and Turkish countries. "
Source: news.bitcoin.com
