Fraudsters stole $21.6 million from more than 40,000 investors to fund their lavish lifestyle, which allegedly included $100,000 spent on sex workers.
Five People Sentenced for Cryptocurrency Fraud
Five individuals have been sentenced to prison for their role in a cryptocurrency fraud scheme worth $21.6 million (ā¬20 million). The stolen funds were reportedly spent on a shark tank, private jet rides, sex workers, and luxury cars.
The fraudsters obtained funds from around 40,000 investors through various investment schemes, including EXW Wallet and the EXW cryptocurrency token, according to a report by the Austrian news outlet Heute on October 23.
Sentences for the Fraudsters
Two of the defendants were sentenced to five years in prison, two received 30-month sentences, and one was sentenced to 18 months. Five others were acquitted, while several members of the group are still evading authorities.
The trial at the Klagenfurt Regional Court was the largest fraud trial in Austrian history, according to Heute. The sentences were handed down on October 23, following a two-month trial and more than 300 hours of hearings.
A Life Like a Hollywood Movie
The fraudsters lived a lavish lifestyle, hosting parties at some of Dubai's most luxurious clubs, traveling between cities on private jets, and even purchasing a shark tank for a villa in Bali, as reported by BehindMLM. Additionally, over $100,000 was spent on sex workers, according to a July 12 article by BehindMLM.
Cash Transported in Plastic Bags
The fraudulent operation was based in Dubai, but some of the stolen cash was transported to Austria, where many of the defendants originated. The funds were reportedly carried in plastic bags.
Austrian prosecutors charged eight individuals involved in the EXW fraud in September 2023, with several more charged in the following months. The lack of an extradition treaty between Austria and the United Arab Emirates complicated the prosecution, but some defendants voluntarily surrendered while others fled.
The EXW Fraudulent Investment Scheme
The EXW Wallet was launched in late 2019, promising daily returns on investments in EXW tokens ranging from 0.1% to 0.32%. However, the fraudulent scheme collapsed a few months later in 2020.
Some of the convicted individuals were also involved in promoting real estate projects and are under investigation for a separate cannabis-related fraud, where an estimated 17,000 victims were defrauded of $17.2 million (ā¬16 million).
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