The National Court is already investigating four alleged scams with cryptocurrencies that add up to more than 60,000 affected by joint amounts close to 2,000 million euros. The boom in investment with cryptocurrencies has served as a goldmine for fraudsters who, with the promise of generating high returns for the client, even close to 20%, have managed to capture money from users that in most cases has not been used for any investment. On the contrary, what the Justice investigates in several of the reported plots is that the defendants used the , also known as pyramid scam, so that the first clients obtained their profitability with the money collected from the following users and so on successively until that the participants want to withdraw their money and the pyramid falls.
The first plot to reach the courts was that of 2021. The company, based on the island of Tenerife and whose sole administrator was the investigated Santiago Fuentes Jove, promised returns of between 8% and 15% per month. However, according to the investigation, what the company allegedly did was use part of the money obtained from the investors “to give it to other previous investors in payment of the high interest rates agreed upon, 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”. However, in the summer of 2020, when many users wanted to get their money back, they saw their accounts blocked. The company then alleged computer failures and, given the impossibility of those affected to recover the investment, the legal plot began. The investigation indicates that those affected could reach 3,500 and the money defrauded up to 500 million.
Another of the cases investigated by the National Court is the one carried out by Javier Biosca, better known as the cryptocurrency broker. Biosca, accused of fraud, illicit association, misappropriation, money laundering and intrusion, allegedly promised users of the Algorithms platform, of which he was CEO, returns for investing in cryptocurrencies of between 20% and 25% weekly. The more than 750 affected demand the return of more than 800 million euros invested. The National Court also took over the investigation of the Nimbus cryptocurrency investment platform last spring. This company, despite being based in Malta, managed to capture and divert the investments of several Spanish citizens. The Civil Guard figures in 125 million the money swindled and more than 200 the number of affected.
The last case to reach the Central Courts has been that of the Kuailian platform, which allegedly also allowed investing in cryptocurrencies. Last July, the magistrate of the National High Court issued a search and arrest warrant against businessman David Ruiz de León for alleged pyramid scheme, with up to 65,000 affected and 500 million euros.
10,000 different cryptocurrencies
Cryptocurrency investing is booming, with up to 10,000 types of digital currencies in existence. Supervisors and regulators warn that they are high-risk investments, for which users can lose all of their money. In 2021, according to the Bank of Spain, a volume equivalent to 4.8% of GDP was realized. 12% of Spaniards invest in this type of asset.
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