The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, or Europol, reported the arrest of five members of a “criminal network engaged in cryptocurrency investment fraud.”
In a Monday notice, Europol said the Spanish Guardia Civil, with the support of its agency and law enforcement from the United States, France and Estonia, arrested five people allegedly involved in a scheme to defraud more than 5,000 investors out of 460 million euros, roughly $542 million at the time of publication. Authorities reported three arrests and searches on the Canary Islands, and two in Madrid on Wednesday.
“To carry out their fraudulent activities, the leaders of the criminal network allegedly used a net of associates spread around the world to raise funds through cash withdrawals, bank transfers and crypto-transfers,” the notice reads.
The case marked one of the largest investment schemes involving cryptocurrencies in Spain. In January, local authorities said they had frozen more than $26 million in digital assets connected to a money laundering operation.
“Investigators suspect the criminal organisation of having set up a corporate and banking network based in Hong Kong, allegedly using payment gateways and user accounts in the names of different people and in different exchanges to receive, store and transfer criminal funds.”
Related: Crypto scammer gets 8 years for $40M eEmpowerCoin, ECoinPlus scams
Crypto crackdowns continue internationally
On June 18, the US Department of Justice announced the seizure of more than $225 million “linked to cryptocurrency investment scams” involving pig butchering fraud. The scheme refers to the practice of “fattening” up victims by convincing them to send increasingly larger amounts of money over time.
US authorities also reported in June that five men pleaded guilty to participating in a $37 million crypto scam in which the assets were sent to Cambodia.
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