FBI alerts Panama about cryptocurrency fraud operation. Prosecutors seize 32 properties obtained through a cryptocurrency fraud scheme. The promise of a lucrative investment that would allow them to improve their quality of life turned into a scam that left hundreds of people not only without their savings, but also trapped in an exhausting legal battle to try to recover money whose repayment remains uncertain. Ramón, Enrique and Mariela (fictitious names) fell into the net prepared by Marco Galbiati, an Italian who presented himself to them as a prominent investor in cryptocurrency platforms and who promised large profits with little investment. According to his victims, Galbiati was a talkative, persuasive and charismatic man who radiated kindness towards those close to him.
Billions Trade Club was the shell company through which Galbiati promised huge returns to those willing to invest in the cryptocurrency business. Recruitment meetings were held in the most exclusive hotels in Panama City. Sometimes, the meeting for those closest to him was held at the Ocean Business Plaza tower, where he had his offices and offered training to the best prospects, who were then tasked with recruiting more people for the business. This group was known as his sales force, as they were in charge of recruiting more people. On other occasions, he gave talks in his apartment located in the Grand Tower building. Those who were part of their sales force received 10% monthly of the sales generated by each person they recruited.
Galbiati radiated power and wealth: he arrived at meetings in a Maserati and those closest to him also had luxury cars. The most private meetings were held at a property that Galbiati owned in Cerro Azul, a large property with a swimming pool and rooms that could accommodate several people. He also held meetings via Zoom, YouTube and Instagram to recruit people from Colombia, Peru, Venezuela and Mexico, countries to which Galbiati occasionally traveled to promote the Billions Trade Club platform. To promote the platform, he used influencers on social media. To communicate with his partners, Galbiati created a WhatsApp group with more than 200 people who had invested in his platform.
The Scam
Ramón, Enrique and Mariela alone invested about $80,000 in the platform, money from which they expected to receive large profits. Ramón donated $10,000 of his savings to invest in Billions Trade Club, while Enrique contributed $50,000 and Mariela donated $20,000, the product of savings earned over years of work, without having yet informed their family that they had lost them. It all came to a head in July 2024, when Galbiati stopped paying investors. Initially, he claimed that there were difficulties with the server, which was located in Canada, from where the platform operated, but later claimed that he could not pay because the money had been stolen. At that time, the first complaints from investors began, some of whom were excluded from the WhatsApp group due to their insistence on recovering their money. The claims were not only made among the group that invested in Panama, but also reached investors from Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela. It is estimated that the money handed over could reach $300 million.
The Prosecutor’s Office Enters the Scene
On February 5, the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office against Organized Crime confiscated 32 properties belonging to Galbiati as part of an investigation dating back to January 2023. In addition to the real estate, luxury cars and computer equipment were seized as part of an investigation that also involves Karl Sebastian Greenwood, creator of the cryptocurrency portal OneCoin. According to the investigation, Galbiati appears to be a front man for Greenwood, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence in the United States. Sources linked to the investigation explain that Galbiati, after his participation in OneCoin, founded Billions Trade Club, both very similar schemes. Greenwood was convicted in the United States of committing fraud worth $4 billion worldwide through a scam involving OneCoin.
OneCoin began operations in 2014 and is based in Sofia, Bulgaria. It marketed a fraudulent cryptocurrency of the same name through a global multi-level marketing network. Investigations reveal that Galbiati appears in some 39 companies registered in Panama, including Cerro Azul Lago 2 SA, Cerro Azul Lago 3 SA, Cerro Azul Lago 4 SA, Cerro Azul Lago 5 SA, Denovo 2803 SA, Denovo 2702 SA, Denovo 2801 SA, among others. He is also listed as president of the companies Boyavat Enterprises Inc., Sol Marina 23B SA, Costa Sur Pijao 3-A Corp., Ocean Business Plaza SA, Grand Bay 3601 SA, Vista del Mar 24-E., Vista 18 de Inversiones SA, Riverside 14-F. In some of them Karl Sebastian Greenwood also appears as director and treasurer. The prosecutor’s office issued an international arrest warrant against Galbiati, and on February 14 he was arrested in Italy, according to reports from the Public Prosecutor’s Office itself. However, some sources indicate that he was later released. The prosecution has announced that it has initiated proceedings for the extradition of Galbiati for the alleged commission of the crime of money laundering.
The Criminal Complaint
A complaint filed with the Public Prosecutor’s Office by some 19 victims of the scam states that Galbiati presented himself as an expert in investments and financial marketing, who supposedly taught his victims how to operate and generate returns through cryptocurrency platforms, but over time, they never received the money that corresponded to them after the investment made. The complaint, which is expected to include more victims, details the meetings held by Galbiati in luxury hotels and apartments located in Punta Pacífica, which were attended by hundreds of people looking to make an investment and obtain large returns almost instantly.
The complaint states that these facts have been brought to the attention of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in order to demand criminal liability from the accused and obtain civil compensation for damages arising from the criminal act. According to the complaint, Billions Trade Club’s activities began in 2019 with meetings convened for people interested in investing in cryptocurrencies, and that Galbiati was the one who managed the opening of digital accounts and carried out the transactions on behalf of the investors. It is also mentioned that this Italian citizen structured this investment scheme in order to obtain an illicit financial benefit to the detriment of investors. The complaint estimates the economic damages to the complainants at approximately $398,303, a figure that could increase if more victims are added.
