On August 20, 2024, Joshua Cartu, 45, a prominent figure in the notorious Cartu Brothers‘ binary options fraud scheme, was detained in Russia. Court press service said Cartu was under an Interpol Red Notice due to accusations that he was part of a group that defrauded investors between 2013 and 2017. The Cartu Brothers operated the GreyMountain Management (GMM) Binary Options fraud scheme. On August 24, 2024, Cartu was released.
The recent arrest of Joshua “Josh” Cartu in Russia has reignited interest in one of the most notorious financial fraud cases of the past decade—the binary options scheme orchestrated by the Cartu Brothers, centered around the Irish company GreyMountain Management (GMM). Tens of thousands of victims worldwide are still seeking justice and the return of their lost funds, which allegedly financed the extravagant lifestyles of the Cartu Brothers.
According to a report published by the Times of Moscow, Russian law enforcement authorities have detained Joshua Cartu, a prominent figure in the notorious Cartu Brothers' binary options fraud scheme. Cartu, a 45-year-old Israeli-Canadian entrepreneur and racecar driver, was apprehended at St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo International Airport by the Interior Ministry’s Interpol bureau. The Cartu Brothers operated the GreyMountain Management (GMM) Binary Options fraud scheme.
A few days ago, Israeli citizen Sabrina Elofer was sentenced to six months of house arrest by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in connection with the vast Israeli binary options fraud scheme Yukom Communications. As part of her settlement, Elofer has also agreed to pay more than $2.9 million in restitution. Binary options were banned in most regulatory regimes in 2017, but fraud schemes will keep the courts busy for longer.
The GreyMountain Management (GMM) case, linked to the Cartu brothers and the Wirecard scandal, is a significant event in the binary options fraud landscape. It highlights a complex international operation involving fraudulent schemes and the manipulation of financial transactions. Regulatory actions, especially by the CFTC and Canadian authorities, alongside legal proceedings in Ireland against GMM's directors, continue up until today.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has announced a significant development in its crackdown on fraudulent binary options operations, highlighting the case against the vast binary options fraud scheme GreyMountain Management (GMM), and its three Israeli owners. This case is part of a broader action against a sophisticated binary options fraud scheme linked to the Canadian-Israeli Cartu Brothers—David, Joshua, and Jonathan Cartu.
The online magazine PayRate42 News reported that DPO Pay, a Dublin-based payments processor founded in 2006 by Eran Feinstein and Offer Gat, has received approval from the Bank of Tanzania to operate as a Payment Service Provider. In 2021, DPO Pay was acquired by Network International (NI), a Dubai-based payments provider, for $291.3 million. DPO Pay had interesting connections to Wirecard and the binary options scheme GreyMountain Management Ltd (GMM).
Regulators should protect investors and markets. In recent years, unfortunately, we have seen the total failure of regulators. They have failed to provide the emerging crypto segment with a regulatory framework. Previously, regulators could not control the vast fraudulent binary options scene, resulting in hundreds of thousands of victims and an estimated $50 billion in losses. Why the CFTC is withdrawing the fraud complaint against David Cartu is incomprehensible. And a dangerous signal of incompetence!
The binary options scheme GreyMountain Management (GMM), run by the Cartu Brothers was probably one of the world's largest binary options fraud schemes between 2014 and 2017. According to various estimates, they received between €150 to 250 million from investors. The Irish High Court found that the Canadian-Israeli brothers David Cartu and Jonathan Cartu were shadow directors of the Irish GMM and actually ran the Irish company and the GMM fraud scheme. They are liable for investor losses.
Between 2010 and 2018 Israeli binary options schemes conquered and deceived naive investors around the world. Millions of investors worldwide have lost up to $50 billion. With binary options also came the breakthrough of online payment processors, payment orchestrators, and paytechs. Sarel Tal with his brands AlgoCharge, Seroph, or FremainPay was a payment facilitator for binary options schemes. They have since disappeared. Sarel Tal is working as VP EMEA for regulated fintech Rapyd.
In the second day of the Wirecard trial, defense attorneys delivered their opening statements. As expected, the defense attorney of former CEO Markus Braun argued that the controversial Third-Party-Acquiring (TPA) had taken place. On the other hand, the defense counsel of Oliver Bellenhaus, who is the prosecution's key witness, claimed that the TPA businessdid not exist. We are certain that the largely dirty TPA business did exist and that many illegal transactions and scams were conducted via it.