Scam Reporters
Sergeant Major
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On or around 24-25 July 2020, acting on the forwarded arrest order issued by the US FBI and based on then-sealed the DOJ indictment, the Serbian police has arrested and detained in custody 11 members of what was announced to have been the international cyber-fraud organization, involved in cryptocurrencies scams for years. Sketchy details from began to unfold in the past months, bringing more details on this particular law enforcement action. We shall try to summarize all the information available, as well as to bit a bit more then the others, for the purpose of notifying publicly the most important and vulnerable category in every binary/crypto/forex scam - the damaged investors.
As per various press releases as well as excellent sources from famous www.behindmlm.com:
''Serbian police have arrested a group suspected of an online scam worth more than US$70 million following a joint investigation with the FBI, the interior ministry has announced. Eleven people from Australia, Montenegro, the Philippines and Serbia were detained on charges that they "created, promoted and organized" 16 fake investment platforms. They are suspected of swindling investors from all around the world who placed funds in international bank accounts connected to the group's organizers, a Serbian police statement said. "After that, the group, on the order of the organizers, closed these fake investment platforms and after some time reopened new ones with the same practiced method," the statement said. "There is a reasonable suspicion that the organizers and members of this group obtained illegal property worth more than $70 million," the Serbian said. The investigation was led by the Serbian Prosecutor's office for organized crime and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), since the group is suspected of scamming investors from Texas, among others''
The actual situation is, however, a bit more complicated then reported.
The 11 arrested people are, per local press release and our information combined, as follows:
1) Kristijan Krstic and
2) his wife Xenia Faye Atilano, a.k.a Ksenija Krstic,
3) Marko Pavlovic,
4) Uros Selakovic,
5) Nenad Krstic,
6) Antonije Stoiljkovic,
7) Andrija Selakovic,
8) Miloš Mitic,
9) Blazo Radulovic,
10) Nikola Dimitrijevic,
11) Nenad Mladenovic
The list (with some comments) of fake binary, crypto or forex-alike websites, detected by us, so far:
Bitcoiin2Gen (or B2G MLM crypto scam featuring ex Hollywood action star Steven Seagal - more on that later)
Options Rider
binaryoptionsconcierge.com
preferredbinaryoptions.com
Fast Options
Hedger Tech
Start Options
Dragon Mining Tech
Crypto Mining Space
Palilula Mining (name 'Palilula' is apparently a part of the city of Nis, Serbia, where the group was arrested)
BTC Trader Online
BTC Mining Factory
Coin Pool Mining
Banc de Options
Instant-Options
ThorEX (thorex.us platform)
Sky Options
Option World (pls see web archive here, info on South African victims)
Bankoptions
www.signaliforex.net via it's TLD www.signaliforex.com (pls see web archive here) and archived Ontario financial regulator warning from 2013 linking signaliforex, bankoptions and optionsworld to the same Aussie scam company KJW KRISWORLD DEVELOPMENT PTY LTD, owned by Kristian Krstic, Serbian-Australian citizen
www.binaryoptionsxs.com
www.binaryoptionxposed.com targeting Japanese clients (link)
www.hostoption.com
www.binarneopcijezarada.com
www.vipforexxignals.com
www.signauxbinaires.com
www.arabicforexsignals.com (with attached FB link)
and probably more yet uncovered websites (so far, we count 27 of them, while 16 are mentioned in the press and indictment from the USA). All welcome to further explore and find domains, linked pages etc. We believe the list is much bigger, as the scam operations were conducted between 2011 and 2019. Some of the websites are still operational (but, hopefully unmaintained).
Per recent local and regional press releases, one group member (Antonije Stoiljkovic, allegedly a local pop musician and artist) voluntarily accepted to be extradited and has received a protected witness status. Soon after, the High Court has issued a resolution, accepting all 11 members of the alleged scam group to be extradited, per US DOJ request. All the defendant's lawyers objected, stating disparity of legal systems where the trial is to be held (USA, where Anglo-Saxon law rules apply, as opposite to the most of European law practices), significantly harsher sentences compared to the local laws, higher defense costs and the distance to the place of trial. Appeals are in the process at this moment. In case of 1st accused, Mr Kristijan Krstic (a.k.a Kris Krstich) and his spouse Mrs Faye Atilano, it gets even more complicated, as Mrs Faye Atilano is about to give birth to their third child, giving total of 4 children (eldest being from Mr Krstich first marriage, ex-spouse deceased) that would be left in state custody, should she go to trial. As for the rest of the group, it may well be that some of them were a mere IT consultants or web developers, unaware of what they were facilitating. This is yet to be determined in the course of a trial. Local sources did mention that the group leader(s) were residing in a southern city of Nis, Serbia and were attracting attention by boosting with their wealth (allegedly, luxurious cars, expensive clothes, even diamonds embedded in shoes). For damaged investors, probably the most important of all information we gathered is this: the police uncovered a bank account with 250 million balance (country and currency unclear at this moment) held in the name of Xenia Faye Atilano
photo: Xenia Faye Atilano a.k.a Ksenija Krstic (source: link)
More details very soon, stay tuned
As per various press releases as well as excellent sources from famous www.behindmlm.com:
Filipino among 11 arrested for international online scam group in Serbia
Belgrade, July 24, 2020 (AFP): Serbian police have arrested a group suspected of an online scam worth more than US$70 million following a joint investigation with the FBI, the interior ministry has announced.
www.thestar.com.my
Movie-like robbery of 70 million dollars, Serbian police and FBI arrest 11 people
In cooperation with the competent judicial bodies of Serbia and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), apartments have been searched at 16 locations in our country today on the order of the Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime, and 11 people, citizens of Serbia, Montenegro, Australia...
www.telegraf.rs
ZAJEDNIČKA AKCIJA FBI I SRPSKE POLICIJE Ektradicioni pritvor za 11 osoba, osumnjičeni pribavili imovinsku korist od 70 MILIONA DOLARA
Viši sud u Beogradu odredio je danas ektradicioni pritvor za 11 osumnjičenih koji su u petak uhapšeni na 16 lokacija u Srbiji, u zajedničkoj akciji domaćih pravosudnih organa i američkog Federalnog Istražnog Biroa (FBI).
www.blic.rs
''Serbian police have arrested a group suspected of an online scam worth more than US$70 million following a joint investigation with the FBI, the interior ministry has announced. Eleven people from Australia, Montenegro, the Philippines and Serbia were detained on charges that they "created, promoted and organized" 16 fake investment platforms. They are suspected of swindling investors from all around the world who placed funds in international bank accounts connected to the group's organizers, a Serbian police statement said. "After that, the group, on the order of the organizers, closed these fake investment platforms and after some time reopened new ones with the same practiced method," the statement said. "There is a reasonable suspicion that the organizers and members of this group obtained illegal property worth more than $70 million," the Serbian said. The investigation was led by the Serbian Prosecutor's office for organized crime and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), since the group is suspected of scamming investors from Texas, among others''
The actual situation is, however, a bit more complicated then reported.
The 11 arrested people are, per local press release and our information combined, as follows:
1) Kristijan Krstic and
2) his wife Xenia Faye Atilano, a.k.a Ksenija Krstic,
3) Marko Pavlovic,
4) Uros Selakovic,
5) Nenad Krstic,
6) Antonije Stoiljkovic,
7) Andrija Selakovic,
8) Miloš Mitic,
9) Blazo Radulovic,
10) Nikola Dimitrijevic,
11) Nenad Mladenovic
The list (with some comments) of fake binary, crypto or forex-alike websites, detected by us, so far:
Bitcoiin2Gen (or B2G MLM crypto scam featuring ex Hollywood action star Steven Seagal - more on that later)
Options Rider
binaryoptionsconcierge.com
preferredbinaryoptions.com
Fast Options
Hedger Tech
Start Options
Dragon Mining Tech
Crypto Mining Space
Palilula Mining (name 'Palilula' is apparently a part of the city of Nis, Serbia, where the group was arrested)
BTC Trader Online
BTC Mining Factory
Coin Pool Mining
Banc de Options
Instant-Options
ThorEX (thorex.us platform)
Sky Options
Option World (pls see web archive here, info on South African victims)
Bankoptions
www.signaliforex.net via it's TLD www.signaliforex.com (pls see web archive here) and archived Ontario financial regulator warning from 2013 linking signaliforex, bankoptions and optionsworld to the same Aussie scam company KJW KRISWORLD DEVELOPMENT PTY LTD, owned by Kristian Krstic, Serbian-Australian citizen
www.binaryoptionsxs.com
www.binaryoptionxposed.com targeting Japanese clients (link)
www.hostoption.com
www.binarneopcijezarada.com
www.vipforexxignals.com
www.signauxbinaires.com
www.arabicforexsignals.com (with attached FB link)
and probably more yet uncovered websites (so far, we count 27 of them, while 16 are mentioned in the press and indictment from the USA). All welcome to further explore and find domains, linked pages etc. We believe the list is much bigger, as the scam operations were conducted between 2011 and 2019. Some of the websites are still operational (but, hopefully unmaintained).
Per recent local and regional press releases, one group member (Antonije Stoiljkovic, allegedly a local pop musician and artist) voluntarily accepted to be extradited and has received a protected witness status. Soon after, the High Court has issued a resolution, accepting all 11 members of the alleged scam group to be extradited, per US DOJ request. All the defendant's lawyers objected, stating disparity of legal systems where the trial is to be held (USA, where Anglo-Saxon law rules apply, as opposite to the most of European law practices), significantly harsher sentences compared to the local laws, higher defense costs and the distance to the place of trial. Appeals are in the process at this moment. In case of 1st accused, Mr Kristijan Krstic (a.k.a Kris Krstich) and his spouse Mrs Faye Atilano, it gets even more complicated, as Mrs Faye Atilano is about to give birth to their third child, giving total of 4 children (eldest being from Mr Krstich first marriage, ex-spouse deceased) that would be left in state custody, should she go to trial. As for the rest of the group, it may well be that some of them were a mere IT consultants or web developers, unaware of what they were facilitating. This is yet to be determined in the course of a trial. Local sources did mention that the group leader(s) were residing in a southern city of Nis, Serbia and were attracting attention by boosting with their wealth (allegedly, luxurious cars, expensive clothes, even diamonds embedded in shoes). For damaged investors, probably the most important of all information we gathered is this: the police uncovered a bank account with 250 million balance (country and currency unclear at this moment) held in the name of Xenia Faye Atilano
photo: Xenia Faye Atilano a.k.a Ksenija Krstic (source: link)
More details very soon, stay tuned