At least €100 million was taken from private investors across Europe, investigators say. The fraud ended this week with five people detained after coordinated searches and asset freezes in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Romania and Bulgaria, Eurojust said. Authorities say the suspects ran professional-looking online broker platforms that promised rapid cryptocurrency returns, then demanded extra fees to release funds and blocked access when victims tried to withdraw. Investigators trace the scheme back to at least 2018 and say it reached private investors in at least 23 countries. Eurojust and national prosecutors have kept a joint investigation team to coordinate prosecutions and trace frozen assets.

The number that matters is clear: investigators say at least €100 million was taken from victims across Europe. That figure underpins a coordinated law enforcement effort that spanned several jurisdictions and ended with five people detained, including the alleged organiser.

Authorities described an online investment operation, not a local doorstep racket. The group created professionally designed websites and advertising that presented the platforms as legitimate brokers offering rapid, high returns on cryptocurrency trades. Investors who tried to withdraw funds were told to pay additional fees. After the fees were paid, access to the platforms disappeared and the money couldn't be recovered.

Investigators traced the proceeds through intermediary accounts and identified Lithuania as a primary destination for laundering in this case. Prosecutors obtained freezing orders on accounts tied to the scheme after arrests and searches, with the aim of preserving assets for potential recovery and prosecution. Spain and Lithuania have established a joint investigation team to share evidence and carry out coordinated judicial measures.

Coordination and forensic support

Eurojust coordinated the multi-nation operation that led to searches and asset freezes in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Romania and Bulgaria, and to the detention of the suspected main organiser. Europol has supported national investigators in the inquiry since September 2020 and deployed a cryptocurrency specialist to assist with asset seizures and forensic analysis.

The joint action relied on coordinated European Arrest Warrants, freezing orders and criminal probes designed to cut off further laundering routes. Police executed searches and froze bank accounts and other assets linked to the operation in the countries named by Eurojust.

Mastheads

Investigators said the scheme had been active since at least 2018 and had reached private investors in at least 23 countries, with victims identified in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and elsewhere.

Authorities emphasised the consistent pattern across jurisdictions: victims were directed to fake platforms, enticed by promises of quick gains, then denied legitimate withdrawals unless extra fees were paid. Once money moved into intermediary bank accounts it was channelled internationally. After the arrests, prosecutors moved quickly to secure freezing orders on the accounts tied to the operation.

That swift legal and operational coordination is the practical point of Eurojust's role. By centralising judicial cooperation and aligning actions in several national systems, the agency helped synchronise arrests, searches and asset freezes so suspects couldn't simply shift funds or slip away.

Independent industry and investigative voices interviewed about the case underlined the standard mechanics behind the crime. Dr Tom Robinson, co-founder and chief scientist at blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, warned that fraudsters often exploit the technical complexity and speculative appeal of cryptocurrencies to disguise routine advance-fee and investment fraud. He noted that in many cases the cryptocurrency element is employed after the theft to move funds rather than to execute genuine trading activity.

That point matters for investigators. Cryptocurrency specialists deployed by Europol and others assist in following value where it moves through exchanges, mixers and bank corridors, and in translating blockchain traces into evidence acceptable to prosecutors in several countries. The presence of a specialist from Europol indicates the operation included such technical tracing and asset recovery work.

National law enforcement agencies remain active in their domestic inquiries, according to Eurojust. Spain and Lithuania are working through the joint investigation team to gather evidence and coordinate next steps. Other states where searches and freezes were executed will continue their own inquiries and asset-tracing measures in parallel.

The arrests and account freezes won't return all losses to victims overnight. But the case shows how coordinated judicial measures can interrupt laundering routes and lock down assets while prosecutors build cross-border criminal cases. For victims who paid fees and lost access to platform accounts, the freezing orders provide a concrete legal route to preserving assets that could later be repaid if courts secure convictions and restitution orders.

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Freezing orders give prosecutors a legal route to preserve the reported €100 million, which may be reclaimed if courts secure convictions.

This article was created with AI assistance.