What new findings in JuicyFields hashish rip-off reveal? – DW – 12/03/2024 | EUROtoday

In April 2024, tons of of law enforcement officials raided houses and workplaces in 11 nations and arrested a number of people linked to JuicyFields, an organization initially based mostly in Berlin.

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

DW’s Cannabis Cowboys podcast was early to analyze the rip-off and has acquired quite a few awards for the reason that ultimate episode was printed in March 2023.

A community of investigative journalists in a number of European nations has now additional investigated the case. Their findings have been printed by Danish public broadcaster DR, Swedish newspaper Swedish DailyAustrian newspaper The customaryand 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 instructed 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 ready 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 collection 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 instructed DW. “The query stays: is that this man [Sergej B.] appearing alone or is he a part of one thing greater than himself?

Was the Russian state concerned?

Gabriela Keller from the investigative on-line publication correctiv.org was intrigued by the identical query. Many consultants on Russia say scams on the size 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 counsel there may be no less than a connection.

For instance, a Russian member of JuicyFields’ inside circle, Vitaly M., was registered in Berlin beneath the identical deal with 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 instructed 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 will need to have solid papers or given false info 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 instructed 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 centered their investigation on a person who was by no means a member of JuicyFields, however whose identify is intently linked to the case: Lars Olofsson, a Swedish lawyer.

After JuicyFields folded in the summertime of 2022 and hundreds of traders have been left stranded, Olofsson introduced that he may 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 in opposition to all those that made the rip-off doable, together with Facebook, the place the corporate marketed, and banks that handed on traders’ cash to JuicyFields.

To change into a part of the category motion fits, defrauded traders needed to pay a payment 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 stunning outcomes. They inform his story in a four-part podcast referred to as “The Savior”. The podcast is in Swedish and an internet 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 instructed 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 expenses?

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 deal with any of the matters he was requested about. Instead, he wrote that journalists couldn’t be trusted and stated he received many new purchasers 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 traders, whereas the authorized proceedings he initiated regarding JuicyFields have been rejected by Swedish courts.

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