Georgian Prosecutor General’s Office says it is involved in joint Eurojust operations against int’l cryptocurrency fraud scheme
Eurojust said the investigation into the case had launched in 2019, following a complaint from a victim to the Swiss authorities, with the latest actions covering territories of 23 countries. Photo: Eurojust
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The Georgian Prosecutor General’s Office on Wednesday said it was involved in “large-scale” operations run under the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation against online fraud schemes involving cryptocurrencies, after the European body released information on the efforts on Tuesday.
The Georgian body said it had joined forces with Swiss professionals in July to conduct efforts involving 12 countries in Georgia against a fraudulent operation.
The goal of the action was to reveal individuals and companies involved in the scheme, it said, adding the fraud mainly targeted Swiss and German investors.
A raid as part of the efforts led to the seizure of electronic devices, freezing of a number of bank accounts and assets on them, and of real estate allegedly obtained through criminal activities, the body added.
???? Successful hit against online fraudsters in ????????, Georgia & Ukraine:
— Eurojust (@Eurojust) November 7, 2023
???? At the request of the Swiss authorities, #Eurojust has coordinated actions across 23 countries.
???? Victims had been lured into fake investments, losing several million euros.
More: https://t.co/N7KCtn4gzv pic.twitter.com/9iAc1wY1vP
Eurojust said the investigation into the case had launched in 2019, following a complaint from a victim to the Swiss authorities, with the latest actions covering territories of 23 countries and leading to search operations and freezing of bank accounts in over 20 of them.
It noted perpetrators allegedly used over a hundred websites, posing as investment companies while offering financial transactions in cryptocurrencies and trading options, before phoning victims and luring them into making considerable investments that were subsequently lost.
Pointing to the complexity and scale of the scam, Eurojust said it was unable to name an exact amount of the loss, but said it hit “at least several million euros”.
The Georgian body said it had been involved in the Eurojust actions against the fraudulent scheme “over the past several years”, which it said had led to filing charges against dozens of individuals and several companies for fraud and money laundering.
The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia on Saturday said it “intensively” continued to fight against transnational crime involving fraudulent call centre services, together with law enforcement agencies of European partner countries and under the coordination of the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, in order to expose involved individuals and especially organisers of the transnational crimes.
The British public broadcaster BBC on Wednesday revealed its investigation into a fraudulent “call centre” scheme involving David Kezerashvili, a wanted former Defence Minister of Georgia in the United National Movement Government, in a report that detailed a global network of a scam operation targeting customers.
The prosecutor general’s office of Georgia on Wednesday said it had solved a transnational crime involving fraudulent call centre services together with law enforcement agencies of seven partner countries.
A total of 46 call centres operating in Georgia have suspended their activities while being investigated by the Ministry of Finance for alleged “illegal activities”, Lasha Khutsishvili, the Finance Minister of Georgia, said on Monday.