"Without a doubt, such data would place us before the largest pyramid scheme committed to date in relation to investing in cryptocurrency."

These are the words of the judge of the National Court

José Luis Calama

after exposing the figures on the scam whose investigation has just assumed: at the moment, 1,127 affected that could reach 32,000, and a loss of more than 41 million euros that could end up exceeding all 100.

The investigating magistrate has issued this Wednesday a car in which he accepts the proposal of a court in the Canary Islands to undertake the investigation of the case, given the magnitude it was taking. The resolution indicates that those investigated, under the direction of

Santiago Fuentes Jover

, could have committed the crimes of

aggravated fraud

,

criminal organization

and continued crime of

falsification

of

commercial documents

.

The judge explains that through the company

Arbistar 2.0 SL

, of which Fuentes Jover is the sole administrator and whose corporate purpose is "the development and promotion of semi-automated cryptocurrency applications", those investigated would have concocted a fraudulent plot in the market of the cryptocurrencies.

The plot promised investors returns of between 8% and 15% per month, paying them weekly, always on Saturdays, giving them the option of adding these returns to the initial amounts invested or opting for the reimbursement.

"But what this plot allegedly did was use a part of the money obtained from investors to deliver it to other previous investors in payment of the high agreed interest, which generated great confidence in them that their investment was safe and very profitable , in such a way that they encouraged themselves to invest a greater amount of money in the hope of obtaining an even greater profit, "says the magistrate, relating the typical description of a pyramid scheme.

"Friend plan"

This scheme not only served so that those who had invested contributed more money, "but to attract new people" who would invest money when they saw the almost immediate benefits that previous investors received.

For this, the so-called "friend plan" was offered, with which if customers managed to include new customers, they would have compensation.

In this way, the company, based on marketing programs, achieved innumerable investments, thus growing exponentially.

Finally, as of August 2020, several investors requested the withdrawal of their funds without their request being attended to.

The judge explains that "the number of injured parties in the case subject to inhibition (1,127 already determined, reaching a number higher than 32,000 in view of the number of affected accounts), their distribution throughout the territory of more than 30 provincial hearings, as well as the property damage produced (41,481,766.22 euros already quantified, which may exceed 100 million euros) ".

Figures that "show the competence of the National High Court without ambiguity."

'Modus operandi'

The resolution explains the modus operating of the plot: Investors had to create an Exchange account (virtual space where to carry out buying and selling actions) and register an electronic wallet (virtual place where to store cryptocurrencies and from where to operate).

They also had to create a user account on the Coinbase Exchange, a cryptocurrency trading platform based in San Francisco (USA) that offers cryptocurrency and fiat currencies exchange service in around 32 countries, as well as storage and management of digital assets. in 190 countries around the world.

They then had to transfer the value of their investment to a Coinbase account in Estonia, which entered it into the owner's electronic wallet.

Subsequently, investors had to "send their contributions to electronic wallets of the company Arbistar 2.0 SL, which, from that moment and for at least the following two months, managed the investments, the owners losing all control over them."

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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