THE Guardia Civil and Mossos d’Esquadra have arrested a key player in a multi-billion euro cryptocurrency scam that swindled hundreds of thousands of investors.
33-year-old Pablo A.M. was detained onboard a plane on Wednesday that had landed at Barcelona airport from Romania.
The man was said to be in ‘charge’ of Spanish clients.
It’s believed that around 17,000 people were scammed in Spain alone.
Eurojust is coordinating an international probe and 15 call centres in Eastern Europe were raided last month leading to five arrests.
The gang presented themselves as brokers who could help investors make a lot of money with small investments in crypto, according to Eurojust.
Victims were encouraged to invest via web platforms controlled by the criminal organisation, which included the EverFX exchange, of which Pablo A.M. was one of the bosses.
Police tapped his phone since 2018 in the painstaking investigation which included interviewing fellow directors of EverFX who sponsored La Liga side Sevilla.
Cyprus-registered ICC Global Holdings Ltd that owned EverFX when the probe was being carried out told the El Pais newspaper that they were unaware of any investigations and had followed best market practice.
It’s name has changed since then and last year UK authorities barred ICC and EverFX from trading in the country.
READ MORE: