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Tag: Golden Markets

February 24, 2023

Request 4 Information: EFRI Is Looking For Scam Victims Facilitated By Payvision

Card payments are the most important and popular online payment systems. Only by checking the billing descriptors (set by the acquirer) can you identify the processing acquirer. EFRI identified the following billing descriptor used by Payvsion when processing the card transactions for Gal Barak and Uwe Lenhoff. EFRI is looking for scam victims that lost money via Payvision. Here are the identifying billing descriptors.

September 2, 2022

Catch Me If You Can! Convicted Binary Options Fraudster Launched Startup Fund to support other Convicted Cybercriminals!

In September 2020, Israeli Gal Barak was sentenced to four years in prison for investment fraud and money laundering by a court in Vienna. He was released on parole in 2021 and has since founded the Vantage fund in Israel, which aims to finance convicted cybercriminals and their startups. However, German prosecutors also charged Barak as a principal of the cybercrime organization E&G Bulgaria. The case is currently before the European Court of Justice.

December 15, 2021

Cybercrime war – Who is the real Wolf of Sofia?

In September 2020, an Austrian court sentenced Gal Barak, the Wolf of Sofia, to four years in prison for investment fraud and money laundering. He was recently released on parole and is currently staying in Israel, where he gave an interesting interview to Calcalist in August 2021. He spoke openly about the fraud and manipulation with his scam brands XtraderFX, OptionStarsGlobal, SafeMarkets, and Golden Markets. According to Barak, everyone in the organization was aware of the fraud.

October 5, 2021

FCA warns against PandaTS scam client Coinnery!

Broker technology and platform provider PandaTS is currently facing some hassles with law enforcement agencies from several jurisdictions. Law enforcement agents from the Israeli police and their counterparts from other jurisdictions reportedly raided PandaTS‘ offices in Israel recently. It is well known that the PandaTS platform is used by many scammers. The UK FCA has followed FinTelegram's assessment and issued an investor warning against PandaTS white-label scam Coinnery operated by Coinnery Ltd.

September 2, 2021

Finally! ING’s scam-facilitating subsidiary Payvision may be closed down!

Rudolf Booker is said to spend a lot of time on his €30M yacht. The running costs of the yacht are €3M per year. Well, ok. He has enough time and money. He sold FinTech Payvision, which he founded and led as CEO, to ING in 2018 at a valuation of €360M. Booker and Payvision mainly served high-risk merchants, scams, and cybercrime organizations. Booker personally was well acquainted with leading scammers like Uwe Lenhoff and Gal Barak. Now the victims of these scammers want their money from Payvision. And ING considers to close down its troublesome subsidiary, local media reports.

August 30, 2021

Attention! New broker scams on the notorious PandaTS platform

PandaTS is currently facing some hassles with law enforcement agencies from several jurisdictions. Among them, the Israeli ones. Agents from the Israeli police and their counterparts from other jurisdictions reportedly raided PandaTS' offices in Israel almost two weeks ago. And seized a lot of data. It is well known that the PandaTS platform is used by many scammers, such as the already convicted cybercrime principal Gal Barak. He has also accused PandaTS of manipulating trades for white-label platform clients. In his trial, Barak moved the Austrian court to order a search of his home in Israel and Cyprus.

June 10, 2021

The incredible story of Wirecard Mini-me Payvision and its founder Rudolf Booker

Amsterdam FinTech entrepreneur Rudolf Booker founded the payment processor Payvision in 2002 and ran it more or less successfully. The business evidently took off in 2015 when Amsterdam real estate investor Dirk-Jan Bakker introduced German cybercrime activist Uwe Lenhoff to Booker. Lenhoff and his partners brought dozens of fraudulent binary options operators to Payvision, where Booker welcomed them with open arms. In 2018, Booker sold Payvision to ING for €360 million, fully packed with high-risk and illegal clients; in April 2020, he and his co-founders left Payvision.

May 12, 2021

Vienna Cybercrime Trials – Gal Barak charged with giving false testimony and the Israeli fraud elite!

Gal Barak was sentenced in the Vienna Cybercrime Trials as one of the masterminds behind the cybercrime organization E&G Bulgaria to four years in prison and millions in restitution payments for investment fraud and money laundering. His Bulgarian wife Marina Barak faces the same charges and is currently on trial. Gal Barak gave false testimony at the trial of his wife and was consequently charged by the prosecution for that. As private prosecutors, the EFRI lawyer and its principal Elfriede Sixt accompany the trials representing the victims' voice!

April 28, 2021

Unbelievable. The dirty wealth of the boiler room fraudster James Morra!

Israeli Gal Barak was sentenced to four years in prison for investment fraud and money laundering as one of the principals of the cybercrime organization E&G Bulgaria in the Vienna Cybercrime Trials in September 2020. His wife, Marina Barak, is also charged and is currently on trial. Gal Barak is currently being extradited to Germany, where he will also be charged. In Germany, a former Bulgarian co-conspirator responsible for dozens of victims as boiler room manager is already waiting in prison. This Bulgarian going by the stage name James Morra earned a small fortune by defrauding unsuspecting victims.

April 22, 2021

Chasing Scam Facilitators – The Vienna Cybercrime Trials, SpotOption, and PandaTS

Israeli Gal Barak was sentenced in September 2020 to four years in prison and millions in restitution payments for investment fraud and money laundering in the Vienna Cybercrime Trials. Barak also faces charges in Germany. He was the head of the cybercrime organization E&G Bulgaria, which operated broker scams such as XtraderFX, SafeMarkets, Golden Markets, or OptionStarsGlobal. Payvision was its main payment facilitator, and PandaTS, the white label provider, which Barak charges with similar arguments as the U.S. SEC does in its SpotOption fraud complaint.

April 9, 2021

Wanted for restitution payments – Payment processor XTrabit and Vlad Kogan

For FinTelegram readers, it is certainly no secret that we are hunting scam-supporting payment processors. These payment processors are even worse than the scams themselves. Scams come and go while payment processors stay and support new scams all the time. They know the scammers and where the money goes. They facilitate these scammers in defrauding ever-new victims. One of these evil payment processors is Russian-born Australian Vladislav "Vlad" Kogan. He has laundered hundreds of millions for dozens of scams with his Czech registered Xtrabit s.r.o.

March 25, 2021

Investor warning – Broker scams Tradixa and Brokerz facilitated by PandaTS

The broker scam Tradixa currently operates with the domain www.tradixa.net. The legal entitiwa behind the scam allegedly used to be Tradixa Ltd, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, and All Media EOOD, Bulgaria. In December 2020, the Italian Consob ordered the scam's website's blackout; several other European regulators have issued investor warnings. The scam is still active and facilitated by Epay as its payment processor.

TikTok Takedown: America’s Digital Iron Curtain or Silicon Valley’s Secret Weapon?

The recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has sent shockwaves through the social media industry, upholding a law that could effectively ban TikTok in the U.S. The ruling cited national security concerns. This decision marks a significant escalation in the ongoing tension between the U.S. government and Chinese-owned tech companies.

Truong My Lan: A Tycoon’s Fall from Grace and Vietnam’s $44 Billion Financial Scandal!

The dramatic downfall of Truong My Lan, one of Vietnam’s most prominent property magnates, has sent shockwaves through the country's financial and political systems. The 68-year-old former billionaire is at the center of one of the largest financial frauds in history, a scandal that has not only exposed vulnerabilities in Vietnam’s economy but has also highlighted the intricate relationship between business and politics in the country.

Cash Cow Crypto: U.S. CFTC Enforcement Sets Records in FY 2024 with $17.1 Billion in Monetary Relief!

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) achieved a landmark year in FY 2024, securing over $17.1 billion in monetary relief, including $2.6 billion in civil penalties and $14.5 billion in restitution. The agency’s groundbreaking actions spanned digital asset (crypto) markets, voluntary carbon credits, and major compliance cases, highlighting its leadership in safeguarding market integrity.

U.S. DOJ’s Whistleblower Pilot Program: 250+ Tips in Just Months!

Whistleblowers are the only effective way to fight financial crime. The U.S. DOJ whistleblower pilot program has already proven effective, generating over 250 tips of potential misconduct since its launch in August, according to Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Marshall Miller. According to a Reuters report, the initiative targets corporate malfeasance and encourages internal self-disclosure by companies.

Online Gambling: Lokinvestigation in Curaçao, its Maltese Connections, and How to Shut Down!

For many years, the far-far-away Curacao was the regulatory mecca of global online gambling. But that is over. The Lokinvestigation, spearheaded by opposition politician and forensic investigator Dr. Luigi Faneyte, reveals systemic failures and alleged corruption in Curaçao’s online gambling sector. With ties to Maltese investors and global financial networks, the report demands transparency but also carries political implications.