Turin: fraudulent investments in gold and cryptocurrencies – assets seized worth over 1.6 million

They allegedly offered investments that appeared to be highly lucrative, to be made through a bank incorporated under London law, and managed to raise several million euros from hundreds of savers. However, the bank lacked the necessary authorisations and the investments were never actually made. This is what has emerged from investigations by the Turin Financial Police, who have seized cash and assets totalling over €1.6 million from the alleged organisers of the scam.

The investigations carried out by the Turin branch of the Guardia di Finanza, acting on behalf of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the Piedmontese capital, form part of the Guardia di Finanza’s efforts to combat property offences committed against unsuspecting savers. The Economic and Financial Police Unit has succeeded in reconstructing in detail the illegal activities carried out by the criminal organisation, bringing to light a sophisticated investment scam.

According to the findings, the suspects are believed to have used an extensive network of self-styled financial advisers to persuade the victims of the scam to entrust them with substantial investments in gold and cryptocurrencies. On the face of it, the returns were very high, a situation which enabled the fraudsters to raise a total of over six million euros.

Clients were told that the investments would be made through a bank with branches in Spain and Turin. The financial institution, however, had been set up specifically to carry out the scam and did not hold the necessary licences to operate on the financial markets.

Accordingly, according to the investigators’ reconstruction of events, the investments were never actually made, and the money raised was used only in part – during the initial phase of the fraud – to pay the victims sums purporting to be interest on the capital invested, using the well-known Ponzi scheme.