Examinations into suspected wrongdoing. - Six people taken into custody in connection with a 113 million-euro fraud scandal.
Authorities nab six suspected scammers in international operation. In an effort to capture the individuals behind a fraudulent capital investment scheme, officials seized assets and conducted searches in numerous German states, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Lithuania and the Czech Republic, as stated by the Criminal Investigation Department and the Public Prosecutor's Office in Erfurt on a recent Wednesday. The investigators are now probing these suspects for possible commercial and organized fraud.
The accused individuals are believed to have stolen around 113 million euros from people in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Spain through a scheme that involved selling supposed financial investments related to cryptocurrencies. The suspects claimed to be renting machines for exchanging cryptocurrencies and promised a 200% return on investment in three years.
Yet, it is claimed that these fraudsters didn't invest the money, but rather spent it on themselves. This type of scam is commonly known as the "Ponzi scheme," named after Charles Ponzi, an Italian con artist who made a name for himself in US history due to his elaborate swindles. He misled investors with promises of astronomical returns, merely giving them profits from the deposits of new customers - until he was eventually exposed.
The operation was carried out by approximately 280 officers from Germany, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, and Austria, alongside multiple prosecutors.
