Unfolding the mystery behind Instaforex real owners and activities

Performing the same drill in Saint Vincent and Grenadines, where we already knew that SimpleFX, the MegaTransfer user, was sharing the same office than Insta Service Ltd, Instaforex company, and therefore MegaTransfer itself, we found at the very same address (Suite 305, Griffith Corporate Centre Beachmont, Kingstown VC0100, St. Vincent and the Grenadines) many MegaTransfer users, amongst which the following :

Fidelis Capital Market (https://www.fideliscm.com)
Clever Technologies Ltd (daxioma.com)
Gridley Enterprises SA (better known as forexbrokerinc.com), a now defunct scam, which had been as soon as 2014 blacklisted by the Malta MFSA (see attached file)
Daxioma.jpg

What was interesting with Clever Technologies Ltd / Daxioma is that they were showing an Estonian phone number as their main contact, along with an Estonian "European partner for cryptocurrencies wallet and operations" and a Polish partner.
 

Attachments

  • ForexbrokerInc.pdf
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At this stage, we had firmly established that MegaTransfer apparent main customer base were companies which were headquartered only in two addresses, one in the Marshall Islands, the other one in Saint-Vincent and Grenadines, where these companies were sharing the same office as Instaforex, who is, again, the real owner of MegaTransfer.

Sounded suddenly that a lot of "forex brokers" apparently independent and competing were not that independent after all.
It was also evident that MegaTransfer, a duly licensed UK financial institution, was not that much troubled with providing services to companies blacklisted by regulators : Trade12 blacklisted in Canada, Millenium-FX blacklisted in Estonia, Forexbrokerinc.com blacklisted in Malta, WorldFXM blacklisted in Austria, MarketOnUs blacklisted (and under criminal investigation) in Poland, and of course instaforex.com itself, blacklisted in countless jurisdictions around the world.

Maybe this is the reason that led FCA to revoke their EMD license and to restrict their EMI license for an indefinite period ? (see attached file)

Needless to say, with their EMD revoked and AIS and PIS services prohibited for an unknown duration, one has to wonder how they are providing payment services to all these websites....

Especially that Currentec Ltd, which is about to be removed from the register in UK, was a dormant company, and that Online Currency Corp Ltd has been filing (unaudited) accounts under exemption for small companies for all its lifetime.

Maybe the goldmine is to be found at Currentec BG EOOD, the Bulgarian subsidiary of Online Currency Corp Ltd.
No doubt that the current investigation which, according to our sources, is led by the Prosecutor of the Republic of Bulgaria, will examine this situation, especially that Currentec BG EOOD was registered only as an agent for EMD services, so has no authorisation of any kind to provide payment services since 2018.
 

Attachments

  • Financial Conduct Authority.pdf
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We found what we expected, a shell company managed by a Russian citizen, Ronen Zubkov, no trace of him on the web, no social network, no nothing. The perfect straw man, or a forged identity perhaps.
The company is incorporated via a local incorporation services company, E-Advisors OÜ (registry code 11761802).

What was interesting was, again the address, as it did not match with the one of the incorporation services company.
MLNMTECH OÜ (14306576) - Äriregistri teabesüsteem.jpg
 
So we checked the address, and found, again couple of interesting things there :
It had been home of the infamous and nefarious Nostro Technology OÜ, a.k.a www.globalfxm.com, blacklisted by Consob in Italy (already reported by FPA) and also aka prestige.fm, blacklisted the Estonian Regulator

FIeeNostro.jpg


So now, it looked like we had found another nest of Instaforex / MegaTransfer related fraudulent Forex outfits...
 
Though seemingly distinct from MLNMTECH (different address, different current director), Nostro Technology (now renamed Euro Wealth) has in fact a lot in common with this company, starting by its former director, identical in both cases (see attached file) : a certain Ms Lisett Luts, born 19.08.1994.
This company has a nominal capital of 2500 EUR established without contribution, and almost does not pay taxes (50 euros of taxes for the last quarter for which data is available) which certainly does not makes "Euro Wealth" very "wealthy", and a currency exchanger license.

Which is something to wonder about, because, in addition of the alert to public issued by the Estonian regulator for this company when it was operating as "Nostro Technology", this very same company has been subject to a Cease and Desist order by Bafin, which reads : "
Die BaFin hat mit Bescheid vom 8. Januar 2019 gegenüber der Euro Wealth OÜ (vormals AllPro Tech OÜ, früher Nostro Technology OÜ), Tallinn, die sofortige Einstellung des grenzüberschreitenden Eigenhandels angeordnet." which means "By decision dated 8 January 2019, BaFin ordered the immediate cessation of cross-border proprietary trading with Euro Wealth OÜ (formerly AllPro Tech OÜ, formerly Nostro Technology OÜ), Tallinn."

Cross-border proprietary trading looks a bit far from the purpose of the Estonian currency exchange license of Euro Wealth, and much closer to Instaforex activities....

BaFin - Aktuelles für Verbraucher.jpg
 

Attachments

  • Euro Wealth OÜ (14183116) - teatmik.ee.zip
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For a 25 years old person, Ms Lisett Luts is certainly a born-entrepreneur, and has been keeping herself very busy, as can be seen from the list of companies she is managing or has been a manager of over the past years (see attached file).

As for the second actor appearing in Nostro Technology, the companies registration and management services KRM Advisor OÜ, owner of the address Roosikrantsi 2-KRM, 10119 Tallinn, it distinguishes itself by three major features :
- It specialises in cryptocurrency and forex
- It uses the website "000.ee". For anyone who knows a little bit Eastern European countries, the use of triple (or quadruple) identical digits on anything from a car's license plate to a website is a telltale sign of ties with the local mafia.
- Its owner and director is Argos Kracht, a well-known and very controversial businessman, prosecuted for asset shifting and renowned for providing, through its previous venture Kermon Invest OÜ, incorporation services to Russian "businessmen", facilitating their tax evasion from Russia.
 

Attachments

  • Lisett Luts (19.08.1994) - teatmik.ee.pdf
    206.5 KB · Views: 29
At this stage, it is quite useful to remind that Estonia is currently rocked by a global money-laundering scandal in which the local branch of Danske Bank has been shut down by the authorities, and Swedbank, probably otherwise the most reputable Scandinavian bank, is being under investigation by the authorities.
Also, a smaller local bank, the Russian-owned Tallinn Business Bank, is under investigation and couple of employees have been arrested.
Amount of the money laundering operations from 2007 to 2015 : nearly 230 billion USD (yes, it is billion, with a B).
Source of the money : Russia and Azerbaijan.

One of the implicated companies using Danske Bank Estonian branch for money laundering was the UK company Lantana Trade LLP (company number OC364391), which was dissolved in December 2015.
Its shareholders (members) and corporate directors were two Marshalll Islands companies : Formond Inc, and Primecross Inc.
And guess what were there addresses ?
Yes, you're right : the exact same as all the Instaforex / Megatransfer related companies (see attached file)

And Lantana Trading LLP is not the only UK Limited Partnership involved which has shareholders sharing Instaforex / Megatransfer related companies office in the Marshall Islands.
 

Attachments

  • LANTANA TRADE LLP - Overview (free company information from Companies House).pdf
    41 KB · Views: 23
Now it is time to meet another famous company whose shareholders / members are identically linked to the nefarious nest of Instaforex companies in the Marshall Islands : meet Always Efficient LLP, UK company number OC394172, headquartered 372 Old Street, Suite 1, London, England, EC1V 9LT, and dissolved in September 2018.

Its members and directors are two Marshall Islands companies, Legacy Properties Ltd and Sangaro Solutions Ltd, address Trust Company Complex, Ajeltake Road, Ajeltake Island, Majuro, Mh96960, Marshall Islands.

Always Efficient LLP is well known from the FBI and various other investigation agencies, along with its related companies Canton Business Corp, in Seychelles.

For those who have been living in a remote cave on a deserted island and without internet connection since couple of years, BTC-e was a famous (and infamous) bitcoin exchange, whose clients were mostly themselves criminals. For an example, BTC-e was the platform of choice for exchanging the bitcoins obtained by ransomeware operators.

Captura-de-pantalla-2017-08-10-a-las-0.09.14.png
 
Now, remember Quasi Networks Ltd, the rogue internet hosting provider that was object of one of our previous posts due to its remarkable connection with Instaforex (for the ones who do not remember, it is on page 1 of this thread, for the ones who remember, don't worry, we will dig deeper this connection very soon).

What was their business again, beyond facilitating pedocriminal activities ? Ah yes, spamming, phishing and....ransomware.
 
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