Tag: Francesc Xavier Alabart Lopez

Malta is greylisted for good reasons, mostly for their failing regulators. Malta-licensed, Phoenix Payments Ltd d/b/a Paytah, refuses to assist the many victims who wired money to the company to top their accounts with broker scams like RoyalsFX, LincolnFX, or CodeFX. Victims reported these transactions to the MFSA. The regulator replied that they would not investigate and asked the victims to report Paytah to the Central Bank of Malta, which replied that it would not investigate such complaints. The victims also emailed Kenneth Farrugia, the Director of Malta Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit, who did not reply.

The Italian Alpesh Patel has been appointed as a director of the MFSA-regulated Phoenix Payments Ltd, d/b/a Paytah. The regulator approved this appointment. One fails to understand how the MFSA and the FIAU have so far failed in clamping down Paytah. According to the former Chief Compliance Officer Daniela Pesci, the Maltese payment processor is being investigated by Interpol for money laundering issues. She filed public court documents against Paytah at Malta Courts show that she had her job terminated as soon as she flagged serious regulatory shortcomings.

And it does move! Finally, the MFSA is acting on the numerous complaints from aggrieved investors about regulated payment processor Phoenix Payments Limited d/b/a Paytah. As reported by FinTelegram, Paytah has knowingly and willingly supported various broker scams with its services. Many victims have lost their money as a result. EFRI, through its Maltese lawyer, has filed complaints with the MFSA and the authorities. Now the MFSA has announced that a Supervisory Action will be taken.

Following the Paytah case, one fails to understand how the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) and the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) have failed to clamp down Phoenix Payments Limited d/b/a Paytah. Interpol investigates the MFSA-regulated high-risk payment processor, Paytah's former Chief Legal and Compliance Officer (CCO) claims. She is currently under the protection of the Maltese Whistleblower Act, but Paytah is still licensed. The public court documents show that she had her job terminated as soon as she raised material AML/KYC issues.

Payment processors must comply with the applicable KYC and AML regulations. Especially when onboarding new merchants and monitoring their transactions. Recently, we reported that the high-risk payment processor Phoenix Payments Ltd d/b/a Paytah (www.paytah.com). Paytah is to be held liable for this but has so far refused to accept its responsibility for intentionally or grossly negligently supporting the scams and refuses to provide any assistance to the victims.

Phoenix Payments Ltd provides payments services d/b/a as Paytah. Between 2019 and 2020, the payment processor has been processing hundreds of thousands of euros from victims of LincolnFX, RoyalsFX, CodexFX, and other scams. The legal entities behind these scams have been clients of Paytah. The company directors are the Italian Marco Lavanna, the Maltese Keith Farrugia, and Spaniard Francesc Xavier Alabart Lopez. The payment processor's beneficial owner is payment veteran Marco Lavanna through his Swiss-registered firm named Fenice Holding SA.