EverFX's Executive Detained in Barcelona, Accuse of Being a Scam's Key Figure

On Friday, Spanish police announced the arrest of the alleged Spanish leader of an international crypto fraud accused of taking billions of euros from hundreds of thousands of investors. The inmate was also a head at EverFX, a Cyprus-registered broker.

The man was taking a flight from Romania to Barcelona. Police said they entered the plane as soon as his plane touched down. He has been accused of fraud and belonging to a criminal enterprise.

A related international investigation is being led by the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust). In November, officials in Eastern Europe coordinated raids on 15 call centers, making five arrests. According to Eurojust, the criminal network posed as brokers who could assist investors make a lot of money with minor investments in cryptocurrency.

Suspects fooled victims by posing as professionals at call centers or by engaging in "other forms of so-called social engineering." Then, according to Eurojust, they persuaded victims to invest on criminal organization-controlled web platforms. The EverFX exchange, which was popular in Spain, was one of these platforms.

Authorities in Spain believe that over 17,000 people fell victim to the scam in the country.

Fazzaco covered the story of the arrest of Sam Bankman-Fried in the Bahamas​ earlier this week for a variety of financial offenses relating to his FTX exchange.