Alex Trelinski
A CRYPTOCURRENCY scam banked over €19 million for an Alicante Province gang posing as financial advisers.
They produced AI-generated bogus videos featuring celebrities endorsing their products to gain the trust of potential targets.
Authorities said that 208 people were conned into making bank transfers into non-existent crypto-investments via the high-profile adverts posted on social media.
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Arrests-.including that of the gang leader- have been made in Alicante, Torrevieja, Santa Pola and Villajoyosa.
The mastermind was set to flee Spain for Dubai and has been jailed.
Numerous mobile phones, computers, hard drives, and multiple documents have been seized from the group.
Inquiries are continuing as several additional suspects have been identified abroad.
A joint operation between the Guardia Civil and Policia Nacional to flush out the scammers started over two years ago when a Granada man reported that he’d been tricked out of €624,000.
The criminals even pretended to be Europol officers and UK-based lawyers who contacted their clients after becoming aware they had told police about what had happened.
They claimed their ‘lost’ investments would be recovered once they paid taxes to a particular country holding a crypto-wallet which would then allow it to be unblocked.
The plot also included some of the crew masquerading as investment managers promising that large sums could be retrieved if an additional fee was paid.
Some desperate investors were therefore stung an additional two times in the hope they could get their money back.
The police operation took a long time due to the sheer complexity of the fraud.
A large number of shell companies were created across Spain to launder all the proceeds.
Gang members also used multiple fake identities with the leader having over 50 different names.
