Tag: Binex Group

Austria's Meinl Bank was notorious for its role in the international money laundering scene. In September 2020, FinTelegram reported that a significant portion of the Suspicious Activity Reports (SARS) revealed by the FinCEN Leaks involved Austrian Meinl Bank and its subsidiary Meinl Bank Antigua. In addition, the OCCRP report titled The Vienna Bank Job revealed that the bank laundered hundreds of millions from Ukraine. Furthermore, cybercrime activists such as Russian Vladislav Smirnov also used Meinl Bank for his business. Meinl Bank has since closed; its former CEO, Peter Weinzierl, was arrested yesterday in the UK.

In the first of the Vienna Cybercrime Trials ("VCT"), the Israeli principal of the cybercrime organization operated via the Bulgarian E&G Bulgaria, Gal Barak, was sentenced to four years in prison in early September 2020. One reason for the relatively modest sentence was Barak's confession. Through his lawyers, Barak also submitted documents that massively incriminated his Russian partner Vladislav Smirnov and his Binex Group, making him de facto the mastermind behind the Barak scams.

FinCEN Leaks are currently a big topic in the financial industry. The analysis of the approximately 2,500 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) leaked FinCEN documents demonstrates what FinTelegram has been stretching out for years now - money-laundering is still not really taken seriously by financial institutions. The FinCEN Leaks also have a direct connection to the Vienna Cybercrime Trials and the collapsed Austrian Meinl Bank.

Early 2019, the Austrian Meinl Bank filed a money laundering report to the competent authorities on the basis of the reports of FinTelegram. The object of the suspicious activities report (SAR) was Keyring Holdings Ltd of the Russian Vladislav “Vlad” Smirnov (aka Vladislav Khokholkov). With the bank's insolvency the money is most likely gone.

The Israeli Gal Barak, who lives in Bulgaria, is to be extradited to Austria. After months of investigation, the...

The FinTelegram Research Team thanks its whistleblowers once again. Without their information, we would hardly be able to...

The EFRI PSP Class Action Campaign seems to have an impact already. EFRI and FinTelegram teams are talking to...

Since 2017, cryptocurrencies have been used by scam artists and fraudsters as a way out of the increasingly restrictive...

There is a war going on in the illicit online broker and crypto sphere between different groups of people...

We have been covering the cybercrime activities of the Wolf of Sofia, Gal BARAK, and its partners Marina Barak (previously Marina ANDREEVA), Gery SHALON, and Vladislav SMIRNOV since 2018. Our reporting was instrumental in breaking up this cybercrime organization. As a result, gal Barak was arrested in early 2019 and sentenced to four years in prison in September 2020 for investment fraud and money laundering. In addition, his wife Marina is currently on trial. The Binex Group was a centerpiece of their organization to launder money stolen from scam victims.