Category: Cyprus

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Take down of Austrian-based fraud scheme offering new type of crypto coin

Source: Eurojust

National authorities in Austria, Cyprus and the Czech Republic have taken decisive action against an online scam pretending to sell rights or tokens to an alleged new crypto currency. In a coordinated operation, supported by Eurojust and Europol, the six main suspects were arrested and six places were searched. In total, EUR 750.000 in assets, a property worth EUR 1.4 million and two cars were frozen/seized.

Between December 2017 and February 2018, the scammers pretended to have set up a genuine online trading company that had launched a new cryptocurrency. They offered 10 million tokens or respective rights to the new currency for sale. Investors paid them in regular crypto values such as bitcoin or ethereum. The Austrian-based fraudsters also claimed to have developed their own software and algorithm for the sale of the tokens, in order to gain credibility with investors. 

In February 2018, the perpetrators closed all their social media accounts and took the fake company’s homepage offline. This so-called exit scam made it clear to investors that they had been conned. They lost around EUR 6 million. Not all victims of the fraud have been identified at this stage.

Eurojust supported the action day against the online scam with a coordination centre, enabling real-time communication between all the authorities involved. This also enabled the rapid execution of European Arrest Warrants and search warrants. Europol assisted in the operation with a mobile office in Cyprus. Austrian police officers were present on the ground during a search in Cyprus. 

Europol’s specialists organised five operational meetings and worked closely with the Austrian desk at Eurojust, providing a holistic analysis picture of the investigation. In addition to supporting the Virtual Command Post set up at Eurojust, Europol deployed a specialist with mobile office to Cyprus in order to support the operational activities and facilitate the exchange of information.

The following authorities coordinated and supported the operations on the ground: 

  • Austria: Central Public Prosecutor´s Office for Combatting Economic Crimes and Corruption; Criminal Intelligence Service Austria – Cybercrime Competence Center (C4) 
  • Cyprus: Cyprus Police
  • Czech Republic: National Organised Crime Agency
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15 arrested for arranging 133 sham marriages in Cyprus

Source: Eurojust

Judicial and law enforcement authorities in Cyprus, Portugal and Latvia have dismantled a criminal network suspected of organising 133 sham marriages in Cyprus to facilitate illegal immigration into the European Union. During a joint action day carried out on 29 January, 15 suspects were arrested: 13 in Cyprus, 1 in Latvia and 1 in Portugal.

According to the investigations, the criminal network was also involved in human trafficking and money laundering activities, as well as forcing victims into bogus marriages for immigration purposes.

The suspects allegedly recruited Latvian and Portuguese women and facilitated their journeys to Cyprus, where they entered into arranged marriages with third-country nationals. The suspects arranged all of the logistics, including the purchase of flight tickets and the acquisition of passports and other required documents.

The marriages enabled the non-EU nationals to obtain residence permits from third countries, which they then used to travel to other European countries.

A total of nine cases have been opened at Eurojust since 2022 for the facilitation of execution of European Investigation Orders and European Arrest Warrants linked to this investigation. The Agency organised two dedicated coordination meetings and facilitated the judicial cooperation between the authorities involved during the action day.

Europol’s Operational Task Force (OTF) Limassol was set up to facilitate the joint efforts of Cyprus, Latvia and Portugal to dismantle this criminal network. Europol supported this OTF by facilitating information exchanges, coordinating and financing operational activities and providing tailored operational analytical support. During the action day, Europol supported the field activities by crosschecking the operational information collected in real time.

The following authorities took part in this investigation:

  • Cyprus: Law Office of Republic of Cyprus, Cyprus Police
  • Latvia: Prosecutor General’s Office, State Police of Latvia
  • Portugal: Lisbon Public Prosecution Office, Judicial Police
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Crackdown on criminal network dealing with online investment fraud

Source: Eurojust

Judicial and law enforcement authorities in Germany, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Sweden have carried out a coordinated action against an organised crime group suspected of online trading fraud. The network defrauded numerous victims for several millions of euros in Germany and other European countries.

During a joint action day supported by Eurojust and Europol, four suspects were arrested and thirteen places were searched.

The suspects allegedly belong to a hierarchical criminal network with numerous members. The suspects ran several fraudulent online trading platforms from call centres and other locations in Cyprus. The perpetrators presented themselves as investment advisors and convinced victims to invest large amounts of money based on fake promises of profits.

The damage caused to German victims by the two main platforms is estimated at EUR 3.3 million and EUR 164 000, respectively. The total damage caused by the platforms is likely to be many times higher. Eurojust assisted the investigations by organising a coordination meeting and setting up a coordination centre to facilitate rapid cooperation between the judicial authorities during the joint action day. The Agency also assisted with the transmission and execution of six European Arrest Warrants and several European Investigation Orders.

Europol supported this case by hosting and financing several operational meetings as well as the action day. Furthermore, it provided analytical support and financial intelligence during the investigation. On the action day, a Europol specialist with a mobile office and a universal forensic extraction device (UFED) were deployed to Cyprus, while colleagues back in The Hague offered technical support for the virtual command post.

The following authorities took part in this investigation:

  • Germany: Public Prosecutor’s Office of Göttingen; Centre for Cybercrime, Police Göttingen
  • Bulgaria: Sofia City Public Prosecutor’s Office; General Directorate Bulgarian National Police
  • Cyprus: International Police Cooperation Sub-Directorate – Police Cooperation Bureau Cyprus Police
  • Sweden: Swedish Police Authority