Alberto Lejarraga
A FRAUDSTER has been arrested in Palma de Mallorca accused of the misappropriation of over €100 million through a crypto scam.
The Spaniard, 60, is believed to be the leader of the organisation, which has allegedly scammed at least 3,000 people around the world.
Police confirmed to the Olive Press that many of the victims are British, with others scattered around Northern Europe.
“He has a great number of enterprises across Spain and is believed to be the creator of the scam,” a Guardia Civil spokesman told the Olive Press.
The investigation was launched after a complaint from an alleged victim in the Basque province of Alava.
Cops eventually tracked down bank transfers to a company based in Palma, which then forwarded the money to countries outside the EU such as Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Russia or Israel.
Clients were hooked via adverts on a website named Pibexa.com, which has now been taken down.
“The website looked very professional,” continued the police spokesman.
He added that the group even took paid ads in newspapers referencing Spanish celebrities and alluding to ‘give financial advice’
Through these methods, as well as SMS and phone calls, they convinced their victims to invest normally between €250 and €1,000 each in a ‘non-existent’ cryptocurrency.
The group gained their trust by giving them access to a website with fake graphics showing historic and predicted increments in the coin’s value over time.
The investors then received constant calls informing them of the great number of wealthy and famous clients that were joining and were encouraged to invest more money.
It is alleged that some victims spent all their savings.
But when a client attempted to recover the invested capital, they were given different excuses and asked to invest more to get their money back.
Guardia Civil has told the Olive Press that the investigation remains open and that a number of international arrests are expected to take place.
He added there were ‘quite a lot’ of British clients, certainly over a dozen, but would not be drawn on exact numbers.
Read more:
- EXCLUSIVE: Giant crypto exchange Globix goes into liquidation amid rumours of missing €70 million
- Liquidators probing whether crypto exchange Globix was ‘a fraud or Ponzi scheme’ as the CEO flees to Barcelona
- Crypto earnings to be investigated by Spain’s Inland Revenue
