In November 2018, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a warning against the Bulgarian CFD & Crypto broker site Fin-techPrime (www.fin-techprime.com) informing that this broker site has been providing financial services or products in the UK without the agency’s authorization. The broker site is officially operated by companies in Bulgaria, Estonia, and the Marshall Islands.
Jurisdictions Involved
FinTelegram has received several whistleblower information already on Fin-techPrime and other illegally operating broker sites. As a matter of fact, Fin-techPrime received an Estonian license to operate as a virtual currency exchange in Estonia. But they have no license to operate as a CFD broker under any jurisdiction. Fin-techPrime is part of the Israeli-Bulgarian cybercrime network of illegally operating broker sites headquartered in Sofia, Bulgaria. Most of these broker sites are operated by a complex structure of companies in different jurisdictions.
From the Fin-techPrime website, we learn that the company is operated by the Bulgarian Morgan Ltd. Moreover, we learn that Fin-techPrime is a trading name of General Media OU, Estonia. Finally, all activities are orchestrated via Morgan Holdings Ltd on the Marshall Islands. Complicated, isn’t it? Well, let’s put it together in a table:
| Company | Role | Address |
| Morgan LTD (МОРГАН ЕЛТИДИ ЕООД) Director: Rita Filipova MLADENOVA | operational unit with Bulgarian bank account and EU bank access | Bulgaria: 1505 Sofia City, Sofia District; Metropolitan Municipality, Oborishte Region, R.A. Poduyane, 6 Maragidik, en. A, fl.3, ap.6. |
| Midnight Holdings Ltd Director: Rita Filipova MLADENOVA | operational unit in UK | Bulgaria: 1505 Sofia City, Sofia District; Metropolitan Municipality, Oborishte Region, R.A. Poduyane, 6 Maragidik, en. A, fl.3, ap.6. |
| General Media OU Director: Sofka Ivankova RAYKOVA | Registered company with license numbers FVR000297 and FRK000249 | Estonia: Harju maakond, Tallinn, Kesklinna linnaosa, Roosikrantsi tn 2-K539, 10119 |
| Morgan Holdings Ltd | offshore entity for money transfer | Marshall Islands: Trust company complex, Majuro MH 96960 |
The Bulgarian Network
FinTelegram already laid out in great detail how this Israeli-Bulgarian cybercrime network around the Israeli Gal BARAK and his partner Marina ANDREEVA work. They typically involve E&G Bulgaria‘s boiler rooms to acquire clients and their funds, bribe authorities and use their own payment networks to launder the dirty money. In the case of Fin-techPrime, Entropay which actually lost its UK license and PayRetailers, a non-licensed payment services provider, are offered as payment services providers. For bank wires, Fin-techPrime works with Praxis Pay and holds an account with the Bulgarian Investbank. This bank is notorious for its relaxed anti-money-laundering (AML) policy and thus most illegally operation broker sites are among its clients.
Report Illegal Broker Sites
Illegally operating broker schemes and their boiler rooms are part of fast-growing global cybercrime activities. Millions of investors are defrauded by those broker sites losing billions of euros every year. Hence, it is important to warn investors of such illicit sites. If you are a victim of an illegally operating broker site such as Tradeinvest90, Option888,
