Police forces led by Spain have arrested a gang that allegedly defrauded 645 million euros ($A1.06 billion) from victims in 35 international locations in a rip-off centred round hashish vegetation for medicinal use.
The gang mounted a advertising and marketing system and attended worldwide hashish festivals to persuade victims to put money into the system, the Spanish Nationwide Police mentioned in a press release on Saturday.
It led the operation with the assistance of Europol and police forces in 5 different international locations.
9 suspects, who haven’t been named, had been detained on Thursday on suspicion of fraud in Spain, Britain, Germany, Latvia, Poland, Italy and the Dominican Republic.
“The enterprise mannequin supplied by this organisation consisted of utilizing the capital transferred from buyers to develop partnerships to finance the cultivation of hashish vegetation,” Spanish police spokeswoman Silvia Garrido mentioned.
“With this technique, they promised victims earnings of between 70 per cent and 168 per cent per yr, relying on the species of hashish through which they invested.”
The British Nationwide Crime Company (NCA), which took half within the operation, mentioned 180,000 individuals invested funds in “JuicyFields” which it referred to as “a infamous and elaborate Ponzi fraud scheme”.
The NCA mentioned a 42-year-old man appeared in a London court docket on Thursday for the beginning of extradition proceedings.
Luxurious vehicles, resort events and music movies had been utilized in an promoting marketing campaign to advertise the scheme, police mentioned, and victims had been taken to authorized hashish plantations that had been concerned within the rip-off.
Police carried out raids in 2022 however didn’t say if any suspects have been charged with any offences.
Police blocked financial institution accounts containing 58,600 euros and 116,300 euros in cryptocurrencies, and recovered 106,000 euros in money.
Properties price 2.6 billion euros ($A4.3 billion) had been additionally seized.