New investigations into JuicyFields rip-off – DW – 12/03/2024 | EUROtoday

In April 2024, a whole lot of cops raided houses and places of work in 11 international locations and arrested a number of people linked to JuicyFields, an organization initially based mostly in Berlin.

JuicyFields had promised big returns to these prepared to spend money on medical hashish by means of its web site. Almost 200.000 folks did so and have become victims of a rip-off. Prosecutors estimate the harm to be round €645 million ($678 million).

DW’s Cannabis Cowboys podcast was early to research the rip-off and has acquired quite a few awards because the last episode was revealed in March 2023.

A community of investigative journalists in a number of European international locations has now additional investigated the case. Their findings have been revealed by Danish public broadcaster DR, Swedish newspaper Swedish DailyAustrian newspaper The normaland in Germany by the journal The mirroron-line publication Correctiv.org, and public TV station ZDF.

New findings increase extra questions in JuicyFields case

The new analysis seems to substantiate the story as advised by DW. It additionally provides new findings that make the JuicyFields saga even stranger than it already was.

Journalist Kevin Shakir from DR, for instance, managed to get in contact with the person suspected to be the mastermind behind JuicyFields. Sergej B., a Russian nationwide, was arrested in April 2024 within the Dominican Republic and is about to be tried later in Spain.

According to Shakir’s analysis, a community surrounding Sergej B. had arrange two different main fraud instances earlier than JuicyFields. One concerned waste recycling, the opposite a cryptocurrency. Each time, lots of people misplaced some huge cash. Shakir tells the story of Sergej B. in “The Phantom from Russia”a five-part podcast sequence in Danish.

“When you’re able to launch such big projects with that much marketing, when you’re able to disappear again and again from alleged scams, when you’re able to move cryptocurrency in big amounts and sophisticated ways,” Shakir advised DW. “The query stays: is that this man [Sergej B.] appearing alone or is he a part of one thing larger than himself?

Was the Russian state concerned?

Gabriela Keller from the investigative on-line publication correctiv.org was intrigued by the identical query. Many specialists on Russia say scams on the dimensions of JuicyFields require political safety.

Keller stated the investigation didn’t present 100% proof that the Russian state was concerned. But a few of her findings recommend there’s not less than a connection.

For instance, a Russian member of JuicyFields’ interior circle, Vitaly M., was registered in Berlin beneath the identical tackle because the official cultural embassy of the Russian state, an establishment referred to as the Russian House of Science and Culture.

“The fact that he was registered at the Russian House could indicate that he had helpers there,” Keller advised DW. “Because you either need a rental contract or a confirmation by the landlord when you register your address at the registration office.”

The Russian House denied that they had something to do with Vitaly M. and stated he should have solid papers or given false data on the residency registration workplace.

Back in April, Vitaly M. escaped arrest. He now lives in Russia, the place he appears to run an organization that manufactures drones, Keller advised DW. “The website currently displays the coat of arms of the Russian Ministry of Defense, along with the slogan: ‘Victory will be ours’.” Keller’s full report will be discovered right here (in German).

A Swedish lawyer and his claims

Two investigative reporters at The Swedish Daily targeted their investigation on a person who was by no means a member of JuicyFields, however whose title is carefully linked to the case: Lars Olofsson, a Swedish lawyer.

After JuicyFields folded in the summertime of 2022 and hundreds of buyers have been left stranded, Olofsson introduced that he might assist victims get their a refund.

Instead of ready for the scammers behind JuicyFields to be convicted, Olofsson introduced he would file class motion lawsuits towards all those that made the rip-off potential, together with Facebook, the place the corporate marketed, and banks that handed on buyers’ cash to JuicyFields.

To develop into a part of the category motion fits, defrauded buyers needed to pay a charge to Olofsson. Initially, it was €100, later 150. Several thousand folks signed up.

Frida Svensson and Erik Wisterberg have put Lars Olofsson beneath the microscope — with shocking outcomes. They inform his story in a four-part podcast referred to as “The Savior”. The podcast is in Swedish and a web-based article about their findings is out there in English.

“[Olofsson] markets himself as a super lawyer with 15 years of experience investigating international fraud and scams. He claims he’s a former Navy Seal and that he worked in the Swedish military intelligence service,” Wisterberg advised DW. “But nothing of this is true.”

“His real background involves serving time in prison for economic crimes. It also involves this year being put on trial again — which his clients didn’t know about at all,” Wisterberg added.

When will prosecutors file costs?

The Swedish journalists stated they might show their allegations with paperwork and that that they had confronted Olofsson with their findings.

DW additionally reached out to Olofsson and requested him for remark. He replied however didn’t tackle any of the matters he was requested about. Instead, he wrote that journalists couldn’t be trusted and stated he acquired many new shoppers after “The Savior” podcast launched in Sweden.

In the podcast, Olofsson is portrayed as a soldier of fortune hoping to revenue from a rip-off. He raked in appreciable sums in sign-up charges from defrauded buyers, whereas the authorized proceedings he initiated regarding JuicyFields have been rejected by Swedish courts.

Public prosecutors in Berlin, Madrid and elsewhere are presently evaluating the fabric confiscated in the course of the raids in April 2024. They are but to file costs.