Tag: Gijs Op de Weegh

The newly published Payvision chats could become the most damaging documentary evidence yet in Europe’s long-running broker scam scandal. According to EFRI and the cited criminal case files, Payvision did not merely process transactions for Lenhoff and Barak-linked fraud networks — it allegedly helped them solve payment problems, reroute settlements, and survive banking disruption, all while generating lucrative fee income.

StablR Ltd, a Malta-regulated Electronic Money Institution (EMI), operates within a highly challenging business environment for small stablecoin issuers. With stablecoin issuance stagnating at approximately €11 million for both EUR and USD tokens, the company faces fundamental structural challenges that raise serious questions about its long-term viability and the broader sustainability of small-scale stablecoin operations.

Roman Storm was found guilty only of running an unlicensed money-service business (MSB) avoiding the far heavier money-laundering and sanctions charges. Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, fellow Tornado Cash coder Alexey Pertsev is already serving 64 months for money-laundering. Yet the Dutch executives of high-risk processor Payvision knowingly washed hundreds of millions for cyber-crime kingpins—escaped with nothing more than modest administrative fines.

In an official letter, the investor protection European Funds Recovery Initiative (EFRI) has urged the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) to re‑examine Electronic‑Money licence of the stablecoin issuer StablR, citing undisclosed Payvision‑linked AML baggage. The call lands just days after crypto exchange Kraken proudly took a “strategic investment” in the very same issuer.

On 21 July 2025 StablR announced a “strategic investment” from U.S. exchange Kraken. The press release touts €‑stablecoin EURR and $‑stablecoin USDR “live on 50+ exchanges, 150+ pairs” and claims US $3 billion in 2025 volume so far. Kraken’s VP of Product Mark Greenberg calls the deal a “next wave of crypto adoption.”

StablR Ltd (Malta, C 104007) positions itself as a MiCA-ready euro-stablecoin issuer. Official filings show a simple Dutch holding chain, but deeper registry work and legacy links to Payvision’s cyber-crime scandal raise doubts about the project’s true beneficial owners (UBOs). While no hard evidence yet ties Payvision founder Rudolf Booker (or other ex-shareholders) directly to StablR, multiple red flags—including addresses previously used by Booker-controlled entities and a board dominated by former Payvision managers—demand regulatory scrutiny.

The EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) was sold to legislators as the end of Europe’s regulatory patch-work. In theory, every crypto-asset service provider (CASP) will live under the same anti-money-laundering (AML), governance and disclosure standards from 30 December 2024. In practice, the first six months of “early bird” licensing suggest that member states are already competing to become the Cayman Islands of MiCA.

StablR, the Malta-based and MFSA-regulated issuer of EURR and USDR stablecoins, promotes itself as a compliant, euro-denominated digital currency provider under the EU’s new MiCA regime. However, what is missing in its clean-cut public image is the checkered past of its founder and CEO, Gijs op de Weegh, who served as COO of Payvision, a Dutch payment processor infamous for facilitating cybercrime.

In April 2025, Mohamad Shaker — the head of the largest boiler room in German cybercriminal Uwe Lenhoff’s vast cybercrime empire — was sentenced to 8 years in prison by a German court. Shaker's conviction marks another milestone in dismantling one of Europe’s largest cybercrime organizations. Yet, while some lieutenants have faced justice, the key facilitators — including executives of Payvision and the Amsterdam-based money laundering network — remain untouched.

MiCA compliance, Malta EMI license, real-time attestations, institutional governance— the latest whitepaper (v3.1) from stablecoin issuer StablR Ltd reads like a checklist of regulatory best practices. But behind this sleek, compliant façade lies a troubling contradiction: the company’s leadership history and backers tell a story that regulators and investors should not ignore.

StablR, an EU stablecoin issuer, continues to operate under heightened scrutiny due to both its leadership’s controversial legacy and the evolving regulatory environment in the EU. The company issues two stablecoins: EURR (euro-pegged) and USDR (dollar-pegged). As of May 1, 2025, StablR reports 12,654,544 EURR issued and 5,400,469 USDR issued.

The Payvision scandal is one of the most shocking cases of corporate complicity in global cybercrime. A Dutch payment processor, Payvision, actively facilitated fraud networks, laundering and distributing stolen funds for years. Despite overwhelming evidence, Dutch authorities refuse to hold those responsible accountable and continue to withhold crucial investigative reports that could help victims recover their stolen money.