Cryptollywood – Imagine a Hollywood scenario where a scammer pretends to be a billionaire bitcoin holder, manages to convince several people to entrust him with their savings and ends up getting caught by the police. Know that this story is not fiction. She actually performed in Belgium and she adds to the long list of Ponzi schemes and other scams that haunt our beautiful ecosystem.
The story of a 4 million euro Ponzi scheme
Ghislain E., a 43-year-old man from Namur, was arrested for having set up a ponzi scheme. The principle of this system is simple. It consists of promising wonderful gains to investors who agree to invest their money. These gains actually come from the sums deposited by new investors. The system can work for a while, as long as new investors are attracted and old ones are paid. But, when the pyramid collapses, the last entrants lose all their money.
Ghislain E. managed to convince several people to entrust their savings to him by pretending to be a wealthy bitcoin holder. boasting of holding 125,000 BTC either around 2 billion euroshe promised them astronomical gains (from 50 to 80% within 6 months) thanks to his investments in cryptocurrencies via his company Quantum Intelligence created with his wife. According to the investigators, he thus managed to collect nearly 4 million euros. A caveat is in order here. If one day someone offers you such returns: run away. These terrible schemes give the victims a nightmare, a nightmare described by the Belgian substitute Moreau:
“The sums were numerous and significant. They transited on the accounts of the defendants, on those of the company and left immediately. There has been gender confusion between accounts. If investments took place for a year in the amount of 360,000 euros, from March 2018 the money was no longer invested in cryptocurrency, as the contracts provided. Significant sums were used for exterior fittings at the couple’s home (133,000 euros) or were played in the casino (410,000 euros in Ostend) or online (202,000 euros). The first investors were reimbursed with the money of those who followed, then there were no more reimbursements. Unrealistic returns of up to 80% were promised in a very short period of time. »
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Prison Ponzi Schemes, Free Bitcoin
The scam was eventually discovered. There are 27 civil parties engaged via 45 contracts who are awaiting the return of their funds. The authorities seized several properties from the defendant, as well as luxury cars and valuable watches belonging to him.
Wallet password changed then strangely lost, accounts emptied, the facts seem overwhelming. The accused, domiciled in Mauritius, has never tried to justify his innocence by providing real evidence. His defense tries to underline his intention of having always wanted to reimburse his victims. However, the seizures of justice and the impossibility of repatriating his winnings to Belgian banks are all obstacles that would have slowed him down:
“He brought up various bitcoin wallets, which turned out to be empty. He also mentions a concern with access to his accounts or a problem with banking his assets, known before collecting certain sums, but when the public prosecutor offers him to take charge of this operation to reimburse the civil parties, he refuses, because by doing so, he would realize a capital loss.”
Me Clément, counsel for eight civil parties – Source: L’Avenir
THE Namur public prosecutor’s office demanded a sentence of 2 years in prison accompanied by a probationary period, a fine of 1,000 euros.
The case is far from over since the rest of the trial will take place in June. But, it highlights the risks associated with investing in cryptocurrencies. It reminds us all that we can never be too careful in our ecosystem. Investors should be vigilant and don’t be fooled by promises of easy and quick wins. Caution is in order, let’s keep our heads on our shoulders, let’s not make a movie.
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