John SchroyerInternational law enforcement agencies have arrested nine individuals in connection with the $684 million Ponzi scheme known as JuicyFields that collapsed in 2022, after victimizing about 186,000 investors.
Although Europol did not identify the nine who were taken into custody, the arrests were made on April 11 during a sweeping warrant execution coordinated across 11 countries, in which 400 law enforcement agents also searched 38 homes, according to a press release.
The arrests were the outcome of a widespread international investigation into JuicyFields after the Ponzi scheme was exposed two years ago, and after some of the defrauded investors brought litigation against both JuicyFields and some of the social media networks that JuicyFields used to ensnare its victims.
The scam defrauded investors by promoting a get-rich-quick scheme through the JuicyFields crowdsourcing platform, all predicated on the booming marijuana trade, Europol asserted.
“These platforms offered promising crowdsourcing investment opportunities in the cultivation, harvesting and distribution of cannabis plants to be used for medicinal purposes,” Europol said of the JuicyFields scam.
“With a minimum initial investment of at least EUR 50 in this so-called ‘e-growing’ opportunity, investors were promised to be linked with producers of medical cannabis,” Europol stated. “Upon the purchase of a cannabis plant, the platform assured investors – also referred to as e-growers – they could soon collect high profits from the sale of marijuana to authorised buyers. While the company pledged annual returns of 100% or more, they did not reveal exactly how they would accomplish this, let alone be able to guarantee it.”
The suspects in the case were of primarily Russian nationality, Europol said, but suspects also included nationals from the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Jordan, the United States and Venezuela. One Russian suspect, who Europol said was “one of the main organizers” of the JuicyFields scheme, was traced to a residence he owned in the Dominican Republic.
The investigation included Eurojust, with assistance from German police, Spanish police, the French Gendarmerie, the National Crime Agency of the United Kingdom, and other law enforcement agencies from the European Union.
Authorities also seized $4.9 million in bank accounts, $1.6 million in cryptocurrency, $112,000 in cash, $2.7 million in real estate assets, and a raft of other valuable goods such as luxury automobiles and artwork, Forbes reported.
Although financial losses by JuicyFields’ victims were estimated to be just under $700 million, Europol cautioned that the actual fraud losses “could be significantly higher,” and noted that more than 550,000 individuals were registered as online investors with the JuicyFields platform.
