In December 2022, FX110 network reported in the "Head of Cyprus broker EverFX Arrested, suspected of defrauding billions of Euros!" The article reports that Spanish police have arrested the head of the defunct broker EverFX in Barcelona. According to the European Prosecutor's Office, the person in charge was involved in an international cryptocurrency scam that involved more than one billion euros and more than 10,000 victims. The BBC has been investigating the scam for more than a year and recently revealed for the first time the truth about the key organisation behind the brokers involved, the Milton Group, including EverFX.

A scam network of 152 brokerage brands

In November 2022, Eastern European officials coordinated raids on 15 call centers and arrested five people. According to the European Prosecutor's Office, criminals posed as brokers to convince investors that they could make high profits by investing small amounts in cryptocurrencies.

The suspects defrauded victims by posing as professionals at call centers or engaging in "other forms of so-called social activities." Then, according to the European Prosecutor's Office, they would convince the victims to invest in online platforms controlled by criminal organizations. EverFX, the popular exchange in Spain mentioned above, is one such platform. EverFX used to be a compliant dealer regulated by FCA in the UK, CySEC in Cyprus and CIMA in the Cayman, with a better regulatory license.

- Solo Capitals

In its report, the BBC said its investigators had obtained a document from Solo Capitals about the company's training - in other words, a course in the art of deception. In the intercepted session, a Solo Capitals salesman who identified himself as William Grant called an elderly man named Jan Erik living in Sweden, claiming to be from a Georgia-based cryptocurrency trading company. At first, Jan refuses William's offer and tells him that he has been defrauded, so William takes advantage of this and pretends that Solo Capitals can use special software to help him recover his lost investment, as long as he provides his credit card information and pays a deposit.

- EverFX & BproFX

By any measure, EverFX is a "perfect" compliant broker. Not only do they have a famous British FCA regulatory license, but they were once one of the sponsors of Sevilla, the top team in La Liga, and you can often see the club's stars advertising for the broker on social media. In another case, however, the victim contacted EverFX and said he wanted to invest a £20,000 pension. In subsequent frequent communications with the EverFX trader, she convinced him that he was indeed an experienced investment manager and poured in around £15,000 over the next few months. But because the returns were not good, the victim transferred the funds to another platform called BproFX at the suggestion of the trader. BproFX is registered in the Dominican Republic and is not regulated by the UK FCA.

In its report, the BBC noted that most of the scams followed a similar pattern: victims put money in because of their trust in EverFX's FCA license. After their trades went sour, they were bombarded with calls asking them to invest more to recover their losses. "He kept telling me that the more you put in, the more you recover." "Said one victim.

The former defense minister of Georgia behind Milton Group?

 David Todua, Rati Tchelidze, Guram Gogeshvili, Joseph Mgeladze and Michael Benimini.

It is worth noting that following the various brands in this scam network, almost all of them can be traced to a man named David Kezerashvili. He served as Georgia's defense minister from 2006 to 2008, when he was indicted for misappropriating government funds. However, the BBC also noted in the report that there are no public documents linking Kezerashvili to the Milton Network, although he has been mentioned several times in the media, suggesting that "he is either the founder or one of the founding shareholders of the parent company of the network."

On the other hand, the BBC investigation obtained testimony from former employees within the Milton Group, confirming that Kezerashvili was involved in the operation of the Milton Group. Moreover, Kezerashvili owns a property in Kiev that is said to house EverFX's so-called call center and other offices labeled "fintech businesses." He owns a similar property in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital.

Parties: EverFX has been a regulated and legal broker during the trade show

The FCA said EverFX had been banned from business in 2021, and Sevilla FC, a La Liga club with which EverFX works, also said it would not renew its contract. In response to the BBC's investigation, two people connected to EverFX - Tchelidze and Gogeshvili - denied EverFX's involvement in Milton's global fraud network. They said that while EverFX has since shut down, it had been a legally regulated broker during its operation.

Mr. Mgeladze also declined to plead guilty to any charges and told investigators that he did not own or operate any fraudulent call center selling wealth management products and did not know Milton Group. A fourth person, Benimini, did not respond.

Global economic and finance-related fraud losses reached $42 billion in 2022

Financial crimes have been on the rise, especially in the area of online transactions, which has contributed to the growth of the KYC-related solutions market. Last year, the world lost $42 billion in financial and economic fraud, and the BBC's report is the tip of the iceberg.