A top EverFX executive has been arrested in Spain.

Spanish authorities accuse the CashFX Group linked broker of “stealing billions of euros from hundreds of thousands of investors”.

As reported by Anadolu Agency on December 16th;

Catalan police said on Friday that they detained the alleged Spanish head of an international crypto scam accused of stealing billions of euros from hundreds of thousands of investors.

The man was flying from Romania to Barcelona. As soon as his flight touched down, police say they entered the plane to arrest him.

He has been charged with belonging to a criminal organization and committing fraud.

The link to CashFX Group comes via EverFX,  one of the companies the criminal organization ran.

Suspects deceived victims by appearing professional with the call centers or using “other modes of so-called social engineering.”

Then, according to Eurojust, they encouraged victims to invest on web platforms controlled by the criminal organization.

One of those platforms was the Everfx exchange, which was predominant in Spain.

In Spain alone, authorities suspect that around 17,000 people fell victim to the scam.

The arrested EverFX individual is identified as “Pablo A.”. OCCRP additionally reports;

Pablo A. was considered the Spanish “team leader” of EverFX, and was in charge of “managing” Spanish victims who were convinced to send money to the fake brokerage.

“Contacts with the victims were made through call centers located on the periphery of the European Union,” the statement said.

Pablo A.’s arrest follows call-center raids in Germany, Spain, Albania, Bulgaria, Georgia, North Macedonia and Ukraine on November 8th and 9th.

German authorities assisted with the arrest of Mikhail B. in Georgia. In connection to the investigation;

An arrest warrant has been issued for Amant J., a call-center owner with high-level connections to the Albanian government who is also an advisor to its Ministry of Defense.

El Pais reports that outside of Spain, authorities believe there could be up to 200,000 victims. Total losses are currently estimated to exceed $2.5 billion.

Spanish authorities began investigating the EverFX criminal organization in 2018.

Supposedly the criminal organization Pablo A. was part of ran 470 fraudulent websites. Rather than just provide a list of said websites, authorities in Catalana have put up a search engine.

CashFX Group doesn’t appear on the list. And so it remains unclear whether the EverFX bust is part of a wider CashFX Group investigation – or to what extent this criminal organization is/was involved in CashFX Group.

As regulatory attention on CashFX Group was intensifying, EverFX denied having anything to do with CashFX Group back in 2020.

At the time of the announcement EverFX was cited as CashFX Group’s broker on their Spanish website:

Further undermining the denial, EverFX COO Najib Kassis appeared at a CashFX Group promo event in late 2019.

EverFX, operating through the Cyprus shell company ICC Intercertus Capital Limited (since renamed to Harindale Ltd.), was banned from operating in the UK in May 2021.

Speaking on EverFX’s use of Cyprus shell companies to commit fraud;

Police sources say it’s unfortunate that Cyprus has allowed itself to be used by groups seeking a veneer of legitimacy to perpetrate fraud throughout Europe.

BehindMLM has long considered Cyprus shell company registration, including registration with the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, to be meaningless.

After the EverFX bust up in the UK, CashFX Group went on to collapse in November 2021. Spain issued a CashFX Group securities fraud warning in December 2021.

After feigning a vacation to Europe in late 2021, CashFX Group CEO Huascar Lopez hasn’t been seen or heard from in public since.

In a communication sent out to CashFX Group investors yesterday, “HL” stated;

When I reflect on the past year, I am keenly aware of the challenging experiences CFX members have been through, and I am very empathetic of how our company struggles have affected each and every one of you.

Our corporate team has been hard at work all year building the next phase of your company.

SimilarWeb still tracks around ~650,000 to 750,000 visits to CashFX Group’s website each month.

The majority of traffic comes from victims in the UK (30%), Norway (10%) and Australia (6%).