CHANGE LANGUAGE

Turin, “Trade Scam” operation: fake online trading association steals 4 million euros, 2 Albanians arrested

The sums were transferred to foreign accounts in order to circumvent anti-money laundering controls and it emerged that the money was converted into cryptocurrencies and transferred via blockchain.

Turin, “Trade Scam” operation: fake online trading association steals 4 million euros, 2 Albanians arrested

It ended in Tirana, with the transnational execution of an order of Pretrial detention of two Albanian citizens, the “Trade Scam” operation, conducted for more than two years from the Turin State Police, through the investigators of the Postal Police, under the direction of the local Public Prosecutor's Office, with the international coordination of Eurojust and the collaboration of the Albanian SPAK, Special Prosecutor's Office responsible for combating corruption and organised crime.

The investigations, conducted by the COSC of Turin, with the coordination of the Postal Police Service and Cyber ​​Security, started from complaint filed in 2019 by a victim of fake online trading, attracted by advertising banners of phantom financial investment companies and subsequently convinced by telephone to making investments under the false promise of huge profits.

Torino, operazione "Trade Scam": associazione di falso trading online ruba 4 milioni di euro, arrestati 2 albanesi

The investigative activity, following the seizure of numerous computer materials, has allowed the precise reconstruction of the roles of the members of what turned out to be a criminal organization, which also operated thanks to the creation of shell companies, functional to the implementation of money laundering activities.

The sums, paid by the unaware victims, were transferred to foreign accounts in order to circumvent anti-money laundering controls and the analysis of the financial flows revealed that the money was converted into cryptocurrency and transferred via blockchain. A large part of the investigative activity was dedicated to this operation, aimed at retracing the movements carried out by the criminal association with the sole purpose of preventing its illicit identification.

The executive phase, conducted on Albanian territory and involving the same investigators of the Postal Police, was completed with the collaboration of the Albanian Justice and Police bodies, thanks to the support of the Service for International Police Cooperation, which activated the INTERPOL headquarters for the international dissemination of arrest warrants, in synergy with the Office of the Italian Security Expert in Albania, at the local Embassy.

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