Tag: Phoenix Payments

In a remarkable judgment, the Maltese Constitutional Court yesterday declared the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit’s (FIAU) compliance process that leads to the imposition of administrative fines to be null and without effect. The court ruled that the current laws and regulations governing the FIAU’s processes breach the right to a fair hearing as protected by the Constitution of Malta, The Shift News reports. A €400.000 fine was annulled by the court.

Until August 2022, Malta was greylisted by the FATF for being a money-laundering hub. The greylisting was undoubtedly the result of failures of the country's Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU). Nevertheless, its officials enjoy almost unlimited powers without transparency. They meet behind closed doors to decide on punishments. While enjoying such powers, they do not declare their conflicts of interest. A litany of companies has sued the FIAU.

As is well known, the Western Allies have largely excluded Russia from SWIFT. In addition, Visa and MasterCard have also blocked services for Russian companies. Theoretically, the numerous Russian payment processors in the high-risk and cybercrime segment should no longer work. Many Russian payment processors operate via licensed Estonian crypto payment processors such as Volrix OÜ d/b/a SafeCurrency or Fincana OÜ d/b/a Payeer.

Phoenix Payments Ltd d/b/a Paytah, registered in Malta and regulated by the MFSA, is currently at the center of regulatory and criminal investigations in several European jurisdictions. In addition, Paytah is facing claims from scam victims who made deposits to various scams through Paytah and its affiliates. The European Fund Recovery Initiative (EFRI) represented the interests of victims at an obscure Financial Ombudsman hearing in Malta. Franklin Cachia of CSB Group represented Paytah. Cachia is currently the company's contracted compliance officer.

In May 2020, the UK FCA issued an investor warning against the Infinitrade (www.infinitrade.com and www.infinitrade.io) broker scam, operated by offshore entity A&E Products Ltd. The scam has been facilitated by payment processors Phoenix Payments Ltd d/b/a Paytah, and Finligue Grupp OÜ d/b/a Crypto1. The Maltese regulator MFSA has received complaints from victims about Paytah and its scam clients. Despite FCA's warning, PayTah and Crypto1 have continued to support the Infinitrade scam.

In May 2020, the UK FCA issued an investor warning against the Infinitrade broker scam, operated by A&E Products Ltd, registered in Bulgaria. We know that the scam by payment processors Praxis Cashier, Paytah, and Crypto1 were involved. We are also aware that the MFSA has received complaints from victims about Paytah and is referring them to the Ombudsman. Therefore, we would like to know more to support the victims' claims.

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 regulated Maltese high-risk payment processor Phoenix Payments Ltd d/b/a Paytah, has sued its regulator, the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA). Paytah accuses MFSA of being judge, jury, and executioner. The payment processor took this unprecedented step after the Maltese regulator fined it EUR 32,400 and restricted the company's license. This is not a normal civil court case. Instead, Paytah brought the claim against MFSA at the Constitutional Courts level. This is a first in Malta. Paytah has also sued MFSA for damages.

The Trade Com Racket is believed to have a headquarters in Albania. JPM Capitals, ProfxCredit, FMA Crypto, Coinmond, GlobalSpotFX, Spotfinex, FXonspot, and TopEuroFX are part of the racket. In January and August 2020, the UK FCA issued investor warnings against the FXonspot scam; in September 2020, the Spanish CNMV followed. The racket offers the trading app TopEuroFX for free download in the Google store. As facilitating payment processors, we have recently discovered Payecards, the Estonian Woodstock OÜ, the UK Cashaa Technologies Ltd, and Net Kantor.

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.

Malta-based Phoenix Payments Limited d/b/a as Paytah has hit the headlines for the wrong reasons over the past months. Fintelegram extensively reported on the scam-facilitating activities of this high-risk payment processor and its refusal to accept responsibility for intentionally or grossly negligently supporting the scams. Furthermore, Paytah did not only not compensate the victims despite its legal obligations, but it also refuses to assist the victims in their fund recovery activities.

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.