Tag: Vienna Cybercrime Trials

Cybercrime organizations need fake companies for their business through which they can launder their illegally obtained funds. For example, the deposits of victims of scams are processed through these illegal payment processors. Many of them are German companies that are very popular among cybercriminals. These provide their bank accounts on illegal funds are laundered with false information. This week, BaFin issued a Cease and Desist Order against the two illegal payment processors, Widestep and WebMaster Solutions.

Europol announced that it conducted a huge law enforcement action against another Israeli cybercrime network operating broker scams. The cross-border law enforcement action was led by a German law enforcement team supported by Europol and Eurojust. In total, 11 people have been arrested. In addition, several locations were searched in Bulgaria, Israel, Poland, North Macedonia, and Sweden with seizures, including real estate, jewelry, high-end vehicles, and approximately €2 million in cash.

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!

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.

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.

Gal Barak was found guilty as charged in early September 2020 as the head of the cybercrime organization E&G Bulgaria for investment fraud and money laundering. He was sentenced to four years in prison. Also, millions of Euros frozen in Bulgarian bank accounts were confiscated for restitution payments. Barak is about to be extradited to Germany, where he is also charged with operating the fraudulent brokers. His partner and wife, Bulgarian Marina Barak, will stand trial as his accomplice and CFO of E&G Bulgaria. She is expected to plead not guilty.

Dutch Payvision is already having headaches with its involvement in scams in Europe. But the high-risk payment processor also had problems in the U.S. and was a co-conspirator of U.S. payment processor T1 Payments in a $4M fraud, according to a lawsuit filed by MLM Beyond Wealth allegations. Payvision quickly settled with Beyond Wealth and bought itself off. In Europe, it probably won't be as easy to settle with money. Payvision will get a place of honor in the scam-facilitating payment processors Hall of Fame.

The Dutch high-risk payment processor Payvision is deeply involved in the swamp of broker scams around the Vienna Cybercrime Trials. It allegedly wilfully and knowingly facilitated broker fraud and money laundering. The presumption of innocence applies. Today's announcement of a partnership with the global hospitality platform Selina has to be appreciated. The idea is to provide Selina clients with ultimate payment experiences while traveling. Not an easy business model in the COVID-19 pandemic but hello, positive news though.

The Israeli fraudster Gal Barak is currently serving his four-year sentence handed down by the court in early September 2020 in the #VCT proceedings. He was one of the principals of the E&G Bulgaria cybercrime organization and found guilty of investment fraud and money-laundering. The German prosecutor's office also wants to charge him and has requested extradition. The trial against his wife, Marina Barak, is scheduled to start on March 15, 2021.

A shooting attack was carried out this morning on Belgrade lawyer Marko Vujosevic. He apparently survived unharmed but badly shocked. Vujosevic was the founder and administrator of Global Payment Solutions Podgorica, which was registered in Montenegro. This was an illegal payment processor for two scammers Uwe Lenhoff and Gal Barak. The latter was sentenced to four years in prison in the Vienna Cybercrime Trials (#VCT). Lenhoff was found dead in his prison cell before the trial began. Previously, Vujosevic had claimed that Gal Barak had issued a murder order against him.

The Georgian-born Israeli Gery "Gabi" Shalon is arguably the mastermind of the world's largest cybercrime organization, stretching over the U.S., Europe, Russia, Georgia, Israel into Asia. The Israeli accountant Ziv Orenstein was one of Shalon's deputies in the U.S. There, they operated illegal gaming schemes and performed the largest cybercrime attack ever on the U.S. financial industry. While waiting for his U.S. trial Shalon continues to operate his cybercrime ventures.

Oh yes, the alleged German cybercrime mastermind Uwe Lenhoff was a very good acquaintance of Payvision founder and CEO Rudolf Booker. They spent skiing vacations together in Austria and communicated a lot. Thanks to the frequent and very open communication between Lenhoff and Booker, their business details can be found in the criminal files. They show how high-risk payment processors work.