Police arrest nine suspects for running money laundering operation

Law enforcement authorities from several European Member States have arrested nine suspects on suspicion of running a money laundering network.

The alleged members of the money laundering network created dozens of fake cryptocurrency investment platforms that looked like legitimate websites. Participants, who were scouted via social media advertising, fake news articles, and fabricated testimonials from celebrities, were promised high returns.

Once victims transferred cryptocurrency to the investment platforms, they were unable to recover their money. All assets that were earned through various scams were then laundered by using blockchain technology. Using this method, the scammers were able to launder approximately €600 million.

The investigation into the network began when law enforcement authorities received several complaints from victims. It remains unclear when the authorities acquired the first complaints.

Eurojust, the EU’s judicial cooperation hub, helped set up a joint investigation team between the Belgian and French authorities. The agency brought prosecutors and investigative judges from Belgium, Cyprus, France, Germany, and Spain together to plan the takedown of the network.

On October 27th and 29th, 2025, police officers arrested nine suspects at their homes in Cyprus, Germany, and Spain on suspicion of their involvement in money laundering. During the home searches, officers seized €800,000 in bank accounts, €415,000 in cryptocurrencies, and €300,000 in cash.

This isn’t the first time Eurojust has successfully dismantled a group of scammers. In June, with the help of Eurojust, law enforcement authorities from Germany and Romania arrested seven suspects who sold fake products via compromised seller accounts on a well-known online commerce platform, causing over €400,000 in damages.

A month later, Eurojust participated in the take-down of a criminal network that was involved in ATM fraud, in which the suspects managed to steal approximately €580,000.

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