OP 25 October, 2024 - 03:57 PM
Five people have been sentenced to prison for their roles in a $21.6 million cryptocurrency fraud scheme.
The perpetrators received $21.6 million (€20 million) from around 40,000 investors through several investment schemes, including the EXW wallet and the EXW cryptocurrency token, Austrian news outlet Heute reported on October 23.
Two defendants were sentenced to five years in prison, two received 30 months, and one received 18 months in prison. Five were acquitted, while the others remain on the run.
The fraud trial at the Klagenfurt District Court was the largest in Austria’s history, Heute said.
The sentences were handed down by Judge Claudia Bandion-Ortner on October 23 after two months of trial and 300 hours of negotiations. Hoyte said the scammers lived as if they were in a “Hollywood movie,” hanging out at some of Dubai’s “posh” clubs and traveling between cities on private jets.
They even bought a shark tank at the villa, which news and review site BehindMLM reports is in Bali.
![[Image: 87645525-875436552-6745645.png]](https://i.ibb.co/8Psvycp/87645525-875436552-6745645.png)
As BehindMLM reported in a July 12 article, more than $100,000 was spent on sex workers.
“There was no shortage of money,” Hoyte said.
The scam was based in Dubai, but some of the stolen money would be transported to Austria (where many of them were from) in plastic bags, Hoyte said.
In September 2023, Austrian prosecutors indicted eight people involved in the EXW scam, with several more indicted in the following months.
The lack of an extradition treaty between Austria and the United Arab Emirates has made prosecutors’ job more difficult, Hoyte said, noting that some defendants have turned themselves in and others have gone into hiding.
EXW Wallet co-founder Benjamin Herzog pleaded guilty last December, BehindMLM reported.
Some of those convicted in the Oct. 23 verdict apparently plan to appeal their convictions.
EXW Wallet was launched in late 2019, promising EXW tokens a daily return on investment of 0.1% to 0.32%. The scam collapsed a few months later in 2020.
The scammers were also promoting real estate projects, while some of the accused are also under investigation for a cannabis-related scam, where $17.2 million (€16 million) was allegedly stolen from 17,000 victims.
• source: https://www.heute.at/s/haibecken-privatj...-120068550
• source: https://behindmlm.com/companies/exw-wall...mber-2024/
• source: https://behindmlm.com/companies/benjamin-herzog-pleads -guilty-to-exw-wallet-fraud-charges/
The perpetrators received $21.6 million (€20 million) from around 40,000 investors through several investment schemes, including the EXW wallet and the EXW cryptocurrency token, Austrian news outlet Heute reported on October 23.
Two defendants were sentenced to five years in prison, two received 30 months, and one received 18 months in prison. Five were acquitted, while the others remain on the run.
The fraud trial at the Klagenfurt District Court was the largest in Austria’s history, Heute said.
The sentences were handed down by Judge Claudia Bandion-Ortner on October 23 after two months of trial and 300 hours of negotiations. Hoyte said the scammers lived as if they were in a “Hollywood movie,” hanging out at some of Dubai’s “posh” clubs and traveling between cities on private jets.
They even bought a shark tank at the villa, which news and review site BehindMLM reports is in Bali.
As BehindMLM reported in a July 12 article, more than $100,000 was spent on sex workers.
“There was no shortage of money,” Hoyte said.
The scam was based in Dubai, but some of the stolen money would be transported to Austria (where many of them were from) in plastic bags, Hoyte said.
In September 2023, Austrian prosecutors indicted eight people involved in the EXW scam, with several more indicted in the following months.
The lack of an extradition treaty between Austria and the United Arab Emirates has made prosecutors’ job more difficult, Hoyte said, noting that some defendants have turned themselves in and others have gone into hiding.
EXW Wallet co-founder Benjamin Herzog pleaded guilty last December, BehindMLM reported.
Some of those convicted in the Oct. 23 verdict apparently plan to appeal their convictions.
EXW Wallet was launched in late 2019, promising EXW tokens a daily return on investment of 0.1% to 0.32%. The scam collapsed a few months later in 2020.
The scammers were also promoting real estate projects, while some of the accused are also under investigation for a cannabis-related scam, where $17.2 million (€16 million) was allegedly stolen from 17,000 victims.
• source: https://www.heute.at/s/haibecken-privatj...-120068550
• source: https://behindmlm.com/companies/exw-wall...mber-2024/
• source: https://behindmlm.com/companies/benjamin-herzog-pleads -guilty-to-exw-wallet-fraud-charges/
