A due diligence of VELTYCO Group PLC (nowadays: B90 Holdings plc) done by the founder of EFRI resulted in the arrest of Uwe LENHOFF and Gal BARAK and the blow up of their investment scams (option888, xmarkets, zoomtrader, xtraderfx, safemarkets, optionstarsglobal) as of the end of January 2019 (for more
Payvision B.V./Rudolf Booker is now known to have been the primary payment service provider for the fraudulent websites of the Wolf of Sofia and Uwe Lenhoff from 2016 to 2019. Less well-known, but equally significant, is the fact that Payvision (a subsidiary of one of Europe’s largest banks, the Dutch
Recovery scammers are probably even worse than the original scammers! When victims realise they have been scammed, they are desperate and searching for help. This is when recovery scammers, having purchased the customers’ (victims) lists from the original scammers, show up and offer help for a substantial prepayment. Only to
In a further setback for efforts to combat money laundering and financial crime, Jürgen Mossack and Ramón Fonseca Mora, the beneficial owners and directors of the infamous Mossack Fonseca, were acquitted of all charges by a Panama court (Baloísa Marquínez) on 29 June 2024. The defendants were accused of money
The payments landscape has undergone significant changes over the past decade. Fast-paced technological advancements have mainly driven the changes. Electronic payments in the EU have steadily increased, reaching a value of €240 trillion in 2021 (compared to €184.2 trillion in 2017). The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this trend. This shift
On 4 December 2020, Directive (EU) 2020/1828 on representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers was published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The Aim of the new Redress Directive! This Directive gives powers to organisations or public bodies designated by European Union (EU)
As previously discussed, United Kingdom is undeniably the frontrunner in financial crime in Europe. Being one of the global headquarters for financial services comes with a high price for the British people. In 2023, according to the UK Finance Fraud Report 2024, Britons lost approximately £459.7 million to Authorised Push
On April 5, 2024, the Dutch Prosecutor announced that the criminal charges against Payvision’s board members had been settled out of court. Booker and his colleague Cheng Liem Li were found to have (2016 – April 2020) structurally and for many years violated the European Know Your Customer rules and
The damage currently caused to small European investors by fraud on online trading websites (from now on, also referred to as #BrokerScams or #InvestmentScams) promising high returns for investments (right now mainly cryptos) in Europe is estimated at (at least) 1 billion euros per month (!). This is only a
Over the past few years, we have learned that cybercriminals are not deterred by the combined capabilities of all of Europe’s law enforcement agencies. Cross-border criminal investigations, in the rare case when they are opened, often take years without any action. So, cybercriminals can lead an excellent life for themselves
