A $16 million pyramid scheme in Austria that tricked 40,000 victims into investing in real estate and cryptocurrencies, forcing perpetrators to spend tens of thousands of euros on luxury cars, private jets, prostitutes, sharks and more. Five people were jailed for their involvement. tank.
The Daily Mail reported that 11 suspects from Austria, Croatia and Italy were tried for 60 days in the Klagenfurt District Court in what was billed as the largest fraud trial in Austria's history.
The defendants, who also include the 24-year-old son-in-law of an unnamed celebrity, are accused of guaranteeing huge profits to investors when they funnel money into assets and trade in various cryptocurrencies, including EXW tokens. It was done.
But they are said to have pocketed the money instead and spent millions on luxury cars, club nights in Dubai, real estate and a shark tank.
Celebrity's son-in-law He reportedly spent 100,000 euros ($108,000) on prostitutes..
Read more: Football legends Ronaldinho and Luis Figo sued over Omega Pro cryptocurrency fraud promotion
Five of the defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging from five years to 18 months, while the remaining five were acquitted. The 11th defendant was absent from court.
Police say they are dealing with gangs using tactics such as transporting cash in plastic bags, storing cash in shoeboxes and exchanging funds via cryptocurrency platforms until almost no trace is visible. He said this was particularly difficult because of the fact that
Prosecutor Caroline Chedyk-Eisenberg said:There was never a profitable project” and claimed that the plan “exists solely to attract customers.”
One of the gang's lawyers claimed his client had no intention of committing fraud, but had “invested significant effort and planned to make a profit on various assets” before being overwhelmed by the project. did.
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