The National Police, in collaboration with several countries and EU authorities, has dismantled a criminal organization that allegedly defrauded 645 million euros through false investment in medicinal cannabis plants.
As reported this Saturday by the Police, the operation has so far resulted in nine detainees in Tenerife, the United Kingdom, Germany, Latvia, Poland, Italy and the Dominican Republic.
The network has been dismantled by a joint investigation team of Spanish agents with the Berlin Police and the French Gendarmerie, with the collaboration of Europol and Eurojust, and the participation of agents from the Dominican Republic, the United States and the United Kingdom.
Those arrested operated through a fraudulent investment platform and would have committed a mass crime of fraud with victims from at least 35 countries. The network invested heavily in marketing and was present at cannabis events and fairs, while launching advertising campaigns with the aim of offering confidence in attracting customers.
In the police operation, bank accounts worth 58,600 euros, 116,300 euros in cryptocurrencies and 106,000 euros in cash, as well as 10 real estate assets worth 2.6 million euros, were blocked. Likewise, jewelry, works of art and high-end vehicles, as well as computer equipment and various documentation, have been seized.
To this we must add the blocking at the beginning of the investigation of 4.5 million euros in an account that the organization had in Cyprus and four accounts with 23 BTC valued at 1.4 million euros.
The criminal network operated and promoted a fraudulent investment platform in medicinal cannabis, through which a mass crime of fraud was allegedly committed with victims from at least 35 different countries, including Spain, Germany and France.
The business model offered by this organization consisted of using the capital transferred from investors to cultivation partners to finance the cultivation of cannabis plants. With this system, they promised victims profits of between 70% and 168% per year, depending on the species of cannabis in which they invested.
As it was a ‘Ponzi’ scam, the network needed to promote the investment in the product, so it made a strong investment in marketing, being present at cannabis events and fairs, using advertising campaigns, with a high presence on social networks. Furthermore, to facilitate customer acquisition and offer them confidence, the platform had a network of physical offices in different cities in Europe.
The UDEF agents of the National Police have verified that the funds collected from the victims were not reinvested in medicinal cannabis, but rather part was allocated to partial payments to the victims, another part to marketing and a large part to the enrichment of those investigated. . Most of the investors’ money was hidden in a complex network of bank accounts and cryptocurrency exchanges.
Thanks to the laborious investigation, the agents have managed to identify those most responsible for the scam – Russian citizens – who acted under false identities and would never appear in the offices or at promotional events and events. Below them were the platform managers – of different nationalities – who managed the network of offices and employees.
After analyzing the bank accounts that this platform had, the agents have verified how the total received by investors amounts to 416,966,621 euros. However, many people have not reported it, so a full assessment of the defrauded funds cannot be made.
A total of five European Arrest and Surrender Orders (OEDE), two European Investigation Orders (OEI) as well as two International Commissions Rogatory have been issued from Spain. In addition, a total of 36 entries and home searches have been carried out in several European countries.