Cybercrime
Trial begins against suspected investment fraudsters
The trial against a gang of cyber criminals begins in Bamberg. photo
© Monika Skolimowska/dpa
They promised an attractive investment over the Internet – and cost hundreds of people their savings. Because of these allegations, three suspected fraudsters from an international gang have to go to court.
The group is said to have targeted private investors across Europe using online trading platforms and deliberately recruited people via call centers. According to the indictment, instead of investing people’s money, the gang took it and laundered it using a previously installed money laundering system. The now accused Israeli, together with his accomplices, is said to have caused damage worth at least 8.6 million euros to more than 350 people affected. The investigators assume that there is a large number of unreported crimes that have not yet been reported and that the total damage worldwide will be more than 100 million euros.
The gang is said to have operated call centers in Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia, among others. The 45-year-old was arrested in the Philippines in October 2021 after an international manhunt that had been ongoing since February 2020. He has been in custody in Germany since January 2023.
In addition to him, two other people suspected of being involved have been charged. A 38-year-old Israeli is said to have worked temporarily in a branch in Israel and later as the manager of a call center in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina). A 32-year-old Bulgarian is also said to have worked as a salesperson in a call center in Sofia (Bulgaria).
According to the information, several people involved in the fraud system’s call centers have already been sentenced to prison terms of up to four and a half years after most of them previously confessed. A leading member of the gang received a prison sentence of almost seven years in 2022. Investigations are still ongoing against other suspected accomplices.
The trial against the three now accused will be heard from Tuesday before a commercial criminal chamber of the Munich I Regional Court. There are 14 more dates planned until the beginning of June.