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Wirecard’s Jan Marsalek Confirmed as Russian Spy Mastermind in UK Espionage Conviction
A London court has delivered a seismic verdict in the ongoing saga of Wirecard, the collapsed German fintech giant: six Bulgarian nationals have been convicted and sentenced for spying on behalf of Russian intelligence, acting under the direct orders of Wirecard’s fugitive former COO, Jan Marsalek. This marks the first time a court has definitively established that Wirecard, under Marsalek’s leadership.
Latest Updates
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Odebrecht Scandal: Former BankerPeter Weinzierl Extradited to U.S., Held Without Bail in Brooklyn Jail
Former Meinl Bank CEO Peter Weinzierl has been extradited from the United Kingdom to the United States and is currently in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn. The 59-year-old Austrian banker faces charges related to his alleged involvement in laundering over $170 million in bribes connected to the Odebrecht corruption scandal.
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KBH Andelskasse Conviction Exposes Deep-Rooted Fintech-Driven Money Laundering Network
The recent conviction of former KBH Andelskasse CEO Bo Stengaard marks a pivotal yet incomplete chapter in one of Denmark’s most alarming money laundering scandals. While Danish media focuses on Stengaard’s four-month suspended sentence, a broader compliance investigation reveals a sophisticated network involving payment firms Clearhaus and FCA-regulated Moorwand.
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The Invisible Backbone of Web3: Is Aleph.im the Missing Link Between DeFi and AI?
Aleph.im is one of the most underrated infrastructure plays in Web3 — offering decentralized compute, storage, and indexing services that could power the next wave of AI x DeFi applications. Unlike most layer-1 vanity projects, Aleph.im solves real problems for real dApps: it lets decentralized applications operate without relying on centralized backends like AWS.
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Startup on Trial: Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos – Visionary or Fraudster? The Final Appeal Denied
Elizabeth Holmes, once celebrated as the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire, is now serving an 11-year prison sentence for defrauding investors in her blood-testing startup, Theranos. In May 2025, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dealt her what may be the final legal blow, denying her bid to have her 2022 conviction reheard.
Payment Processors
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EXPLOSIVE REVELATIONS: 20Bet’s GERMAN GAMBLING EMPIRE – AND REVOLUT’S SHADOWY ROLE IN ILLEGAL PAYMENT PIPELINE
The cyberfinance rating agency RatEx42 just published an explosive report. A toxic web of regulatory violations, money laundering risks, and consumer exploitation has been exposed in Germany’s underground gambling scene – with 20Bet at its core and Revolut allegedly fueling its operations. Fresh evidence suggests a brazen disregard for EU gambling laws, AML protocols, and Germany’s strict GlüStV regulations45.
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The Unraveling of Rabidi and the Rise of the SoftSwiss Network: Our Updated Forensic Report
A few months ago, FinTelegram released a first forensic report on the bankruptcy of Rabidi N.V., a Curacao-registered online casino operator with hundreds of millions in revenues — and no traceable assets by the time of its collapse in May 2024. That report already raised serious questions about the opaque structures behind Rabidi’s operations and its successor, Liernin Enterprises Ltd.
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Cybercrime Legacy: The Status of Legal Actions Against B2G GmbH and Its Principals!
The case around the fraudulent binary options industry and its facilitating payment processors is still not closed. The illegal German payment processor B2G GmbH, operated by Rainer Treuer and Oleg Shvartsman, has been implicated in facilitating large-scale financial fraud. This report outlines the known details of their activities, the legal actions taken, and the unanswered questions surrounding their lack of prosecution.
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OpenPayd Founder Ozan Ozerk – Visionary Fintech Founder or High-Risk Enabler?
Ozan Ozerk is often portrayed in the media—most recently in a flattering Türkiye Today profile—as a visionary Turkish entrepreneur reshaping global finance through his fintech ventures, most notably OpenPayd, EMBank, and Ozan Elektronik Para. But as regulatory actions mount and his companies increasingly surface in investigations tied to high-risk payments, scam facilitation, and money laundering,
Cybercrime Court Cases
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Startup on Trial: Alex Mashinsky Sentenced to 12 Years for Orchestrating Celsius Network FraudPC Gamer+5bloomberg.com+5Coindoo+5
In an expected decision underscoring the perils of unchecked ambition in the crypto industry, Alex Mashinsky, founder and former CEO of Celsius Network, has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison. This sentencing follows his December 2024 guilty plea to securities and commodities fraud charges. Mashinsky was one of the crypto high-flyers in the crypto bull run 2020/21.
Regulatory Updates
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How to Assess Risk in DeFi: A Practical Framework for Users and Analysts
DeFi offers high yields—but it also carries high risk. The lack of centralized oversight means the responsibility for due diligence shifts to the user. In this sixth part of the FinTelegram DeFi Series, we present a practical risk assessment framework to help investors, analysts, and regulators evaluate decentralized finance protocols beyond hype and token prices.
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Startup on Trial: Charlie Javice and the Frank Fraud – When Fake Users Fueled a $175 Million Acquisition
Charlie Javice, once hailed as a “female fintech prodigy,” now stands convicted of engineering one of the boldest startup frauds in recent history. Her student finance platform, Frank, was acquired by JPMorgan Chase for $175 million in 2021. What seemed like a triumphant exit turned out to be a carefully orchestrated lie — built on fake user data, fabricated customer lists, and manipulated metrics.
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Investor Briefing: FinTelegram Confirms Negative Outlook For Alphabet (GOOGL)!
Alphabet Inc., the parent of Google, is under existential pressure for the first time in decades. With search traffic declining on key platforms like Apple Safari, a DOJ antitrust trial in full swing, and AI-powered rivals like ChatGPT and Perplexity eating into its moat, Alphabet's dominance is no longer a given. A recent 9% drop in its stock price — erasing $250B in market cap — signals market fear that the age of Google-as-default may be ending.
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