On 11 September 2024, the 8th Global Conference on Criminal Finances and Cryptocurrencies, co-organised by the Basel Institute on Governance, Europol, and the UNODC, took place in Vienna. One of the primary topics of discussion was the increasingly concerning role of cryptocurrencies in the online gambling and casino industry. As attendees delved into the risks posed by this unregulated digital frontier, it became clear that combating this growing threat is not only crucial but also highly complex.
The conference highlighted that, while there is a general consensus on the severity of the issue, turning ideas into actionable policies remains a significant challenge.
This is quite strange, as there is a prominent player in this game who is quite well known to Europol due to his massive involvement in the Wolf of Sofia scams: Gery Shalon,ercriminal. He certainly stands out as a symbol of the entangled relationship between cryptocurrency and online crime.
Gery Shalon: A Key Player in the Criminal Crypto World
Gery Shalon, a Georgian-Israeli cybercriminal, has been involved in large-scale financial fraud and cybercrime for many years. He started out operating U.S. online casinos, including UniqueCasino.com, MaChanceCasino.com, and vegasplus.com, among others.
In July 2015 Gery Shalon was arrested in Israel. He was charged in November 2015 for orchestrating massive cyberattacks on U.S. financial institutions JP Morgan, brokerage firms, and a major news agency. These attacks caused significant disruptions and highlighted the scale of Shalon’s operations.
In a smart move, Shalon cooperated with U.S. authorities, providing information on other Eastern European and Russian criminals. His cooperation granted him leniency, and he was allowed to serve his sentence under house arrest in his luxury Manhattan penthouse.
Shalon and his vast European frauds activities
Yet, evidenced extensively in Barak’s Austrian court files, even while under house arrest, Shalon continued his criminal activities. He worked closely with Gal Barak’s call centre employees and advised Barak’s wife, Marina Barak, after Gal’s arrest. Shalon also facilitated the transfer of millions in scammed funds through Dreamspay, a payment service provider that worked with Payvision B.V. to process fraudulent transactions from XTraderFX and OptionStarsGlobal. Much of this money was funnelled to offshore companies beneficially owned by Shalon, such as Online Prospects Ltd. Online Prospects Ltd. received wire transfers from GPay Limited (a vehicle for the Xtraderfx fraud) amounting to €12 million within an eight-month period. So we can imagine how much Gery Shalon received over four years (figures are taken from BARAK´s court files).
Along with his associates, including Ilan Tzorya, Gal Barak, Vlad Smirnov, and Uwe Lenhoff, Shalon was responsible for siphoning off between €300 million and €400 million from European victims between 2016 and early 2019. The group operated binary options and FOREX websites like SafeMarkets, OptionStarsGlobal, XTraderFX, GoldenMarkets, and Option888, among others. Their activities created a trail of devastation, primarily targeting unsuspecting retail investors across Europe.
Coming back to Israel and to Europe
In 2022 and 2023, Gery Shalon returned to Israel and reportedly rekindled his relationship with Gal Barak, who had also been released from an Austrian prison after serving a short jail term in Austria. Shalon is said to have resumed targeting European victims, especially in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, with online gambling, betting and casino schemes. Equipped with the funds of European victims, he is able to work with the best service providers in the cybercriminal industry. According to whistleblowers, he remains a key figure behind these operations.
One of Shalon’s latest ventures involves the OX Gaming Group, which operates Atlantis Slot, a casino website. FinTelegram only recently reported that Shalon is believed to be the beneficial owner of this operation, with customer deposits processed through Continent Pay, a payment provider allegedly controlled by Shalon via MARKET PROMO Sp. z o.o. based in Warsaw, Poland. Investigations have revealed that payments for Atlantis Slot are processed using various methods, including debit and credit cards, as well as Binance Pay, a cryptocurrency payment solution. No surprise at all.
European Victims: Still No Justice?
Gal Barak was sentenced to 4 years’ jail time for his crimes against Austrian victims,
Despite the extensive evidence against Gery Shalon, Gal Barak, and their associates, justice has been slow in Europe. In the ruling dated March 2023, the European Court of Justice paved the way for the indictment of both Gal and Marina Barak for crimes committed against German victims. However, as of now, no indictments have been issued against them, nor against Gery Shalon.
This delay raises serious concerns, mainly as Shalon and his network operate freely, defrauding European victims. At least after yesterday’s session on the online fraud issue with casinos, Europol is aware of what is at risk. With Shalon showing no signs of ceasing its criminal activities, the urgency for legal action has never been greater. European authorities must act swiftly to hold these individuals accountable before more victims fall prey to their schemes.
Even more so now that we know that Gery Shalon is in the online gambling and casino business. An area that was described in the conference only yesterday as particularly vulnerable to money laundering involving cryptocurrency and linked to organised crime.
