Law enforcement agencies in several jurisdictions are investigating the Juicy Fields cannabis scheme and its operators. Authorities suspect investment fraud that could have caused investors a total loss of nearly half a billion euros worldwide. Other sources speak of several billion. Cross-border investigations are conducted against several suspects over alleged investment fraud and money laundering.
Crowd Growing Cannabis, Crypto, And Money Laundering
The Juicy Fields “crowd growing” scheme had promised investors to make them rich by investing in medical cannabis plantations. As an e-grower, as the alleged scammers called it, you were supposed to watch the plants grow from your couch – and your own bank balance with them. Juicy Fields advertised returns of up to 100% in one year. The result: hundreds of thousands of investors may have lost their money; the damage could run into billions.
How das Crowd Growing work: “Crowdgrowing” or e-growing leverages the power of partnerships in cannabis cultivation and distribution. Everyday people interested in becoming a part of the cannabis growing industry partner with cannabis cultivators.
JuicyFields Greenpaper (link)
The cannabis scheme had integrated crypto payments into its platform. Thus, many investors made their deposits in cryptos. According to German law firm Plan C, at least €290 million in cryptocurrencies have flowed to Juicy Fields. These were mainly smaller amounts for plants bought by small investors. However, it is noteworthy that very high double-digit million amounts in cryptocurrencies have flowed to Juicy Fields‘ wallets starting around the spring of 2022. Money laundering is also suspected here.
Juicy Fields investors have been unable to log into their customer accounts since mid-2022. Reportedly, up to 500,000 investors are affected. The potential damage could be between several hundred million or even billion euros. A Spanish law firm representing injured parties estimates more than five billion euros passed through Juicy Fields‘ crypto wallets.
The Juicy Fields Cannabis Scheme Network
The Juicy Fields scheme has worked with a wide variety of legal entities in different jurisdictions over the years:
- Germany: In February 2020, Juicy Grow GmbH was established By Viktor Bitner in Berlin as a gardening supplies company. It was originally listed in the imprint of the JuicyFields website. The company’s CEO was for a long time a U.S. citizen named Alan Glanse, who left in March 2022 and has since claimed to various media that he himself was a victim of fraud. One of his successors was the South African Willem van der Merwe, who denied that Juicy Fields was a fraud or a Ponzi scheme.
- United Kingdom: As of January 2022, Juicy Grow GmbH controlled Juicy High Ltd, a UK-registered entity controlled by Russian Igor Kekshin. Also involved in the UK entity were Latvian Raitis Dzelzkaleijs and Dutchman Hugo van de Garde.
- Netherlands: In early 2022, Amsterdam-based Juicy Holdings B.V. was named as the operator of Juicy Fields. The company was founded in 2021 by Robert Michael Müller. Also, the German Daniel Detlef Walter thanks also registered as a managing director in the meantime.
- Switzerland: Sole shareholder of the Durch entity was the Swiss JuicyFields AG, the company was renamed Xedyn AG in November 2022.
- Denmark: Briefly, the Danish-registered Jansen Grow ApS with an address in Copenhagen was also listed as the operator on the scheme’s website.
The Enforcement Actions
The German regulator BaFin warned against this Dutch entity in March 2022 and in June, banned the business altogether in Germany due to the violation of the German Asset Investment Act. Because the company did not comply with the sales ban, BaFin also sent the company a letter at the beginning of July demanding a penalty payment of one million euros.
In August 2022, the Berlin State Criminal Police Office searched the homes of twelve suspected Juicy Fields leaders and the business premises of five companies at two locations. Assets of over 12.2 million euros were seized in the process.
The DAO Escape And Russian Indiviudals
The website is still online and now presents Juicy Fields as a DAO (Decentralised Autonomous Organisation) without a company behind it. The operators obviously want to avoid the investigations of law enforcement authorities.
The main shareholder of Juicy Fields is said to be a Russian named Paul Bergolts (passport left), who owns 51 percent of the company’s shares, according to an “internal due diligence investigation” performed by the founder of Juicy Holdings B.V. His alleged co-founder was the Russian lawyer Robert Laibach. Two other shareholders, Vasily Kandinski, and Alex Vaimer, are also Russian citizens.
Share Information
If you have information about Juicy Fields and its operators, please report it through our whistleblower system, Whistle42.
the investigation from the Swedish Lawyer Lars Olafsson https://juicyfieldscase.com/ have much more and better information than the spanish lawyer. Also he is cooperation on an international level.