Simona Weinglass provided an update on the GetFinancial Case and the respective law enforcement actions in Israel, which have been initiated by German prosecutors. Allegedly, 15 people have been questioned by the police, four are said to be extradited to Germany. Court documents show that the cybercrime organization ran the scams GetFinancial, IntegraOption, SolidCFD, TradeSolid, BitCapitalMarkets, MyCoinbanking, Procapitalmarkets, Profitstrade, FXPace, Acceptrade, and Gainfintech using the platforms SpotOption and Tradologic.
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.
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.