Swedish authorities raided Crowd1’s company places of work final November.
The beforehand unreported information was disclosed in a latest episode of Svenska Dagbladet’s paywalled Blenda podcast.
As reported Expressen on March twenty eighth, citing Svenska Dagbladet’s podcast;
Final autumn, the police raided the corporate’s workplace in Stockholm, reveals Svenska Dagbladet’s podcast “The IT icon and pyramid cash”.
The police seized computer systems and paperwork – and arrested three individuals related to the corporate.
They have been launched after two days, however are suspected of significant financial cash laundering, against the law that may result in as much as six years in jail.
Chamber prosecutor Carl Asterius on the Ecocrime Authority explains within the podcast that the legal classification financial cash laundering will be related when it’s suspected that it’s “criminally obtained cash”.
And that the suspicion on this case is that it’s an unlawful pyramid scheme.
SvD Naringsliv moreover stories;
”We had plenty of patrols in several places. Law enforcement officials went in and did the raids. I used to be within the workplace coordinating the patrols on the bottom”, says Swedish Financial Crime Authority investigator Lisa Claesson.
Round 6 AM police entered the Crowd1-offices, positioned on the flashy tech-hub Epicenter in central Stockholm. Paperwork, computer systems and different gadgets have been seized.
Police additionally raided the properties of some, key people tied to the group. They have been introduced into custody for questioning and needed to spend the night time in jail.
The raid, which occurred on November 21, 2022, was finished as part of Swedish legislation enforcement’s first ever investigation into Crowd1.
(Crowd1’s) Stockholm-office seems to be shutting down after the raid, and most of its staff have just lately been laid off.
”They’re transferring all the pieces to Dubai”, one supply tells SvD. ”That’s the place all the cash goes”, one other supply says.
Thus far I’m not conscious of any official affirmation in writing of the Crowd1 Swedish police raids or arrests.
Sweden taking the lead on Crowd1 company raids and arrests is important, owing to founder Jonas Werner being a Swedish nationwide.
Previous to fleeing to Dubai as Crowd1 took off, Werner is believed to have been dwelling in Spain.
After first displaying indicators of collapse in early 2020, Crowd1 saved the rip-off going by periodically altering its Ponzi ruse.
First it was digital shares, then playing, then apps, then dietary supplements, then crypto gaming, then shares in a UK shell firm and eventually, the metaverse,
The most recent ruse is a few NFT rubbish Crowd1 will launch later this yr:
Crowd1 President Kenny Nordlund confirmed the Ponzi scheme had stopped paying out in Might 2022. Apart from the brand new NFT ruse, issues have in any other case been fairly quiet.
Svenska Dagbladet managed to get former Crowd1 CEO Johan Stael von Holstein on as a visitor.
Relatively than acknowledge his position in selling Crowd1 as an govt and defrauding customers out of tons of cash, von Holstein trotted out the “bUt I dIdN’t KnOw!” ruse.
(Von Holstein) now says that the true purpose was that he was “basically deceived”. That there was an influence wrestle inside the firm and that he was offered as CEO though he was not.
I didn’t get the position, energy and duty that I used to be promised. It created plenty of hassle inside the group, he says within the podcast.
He says he additionally started to doubt Jonas Werner’s intentions. He says that he himself needed those that are available final to earn cash, so not simply the primary and the highest layer as in pyramid schemes.
However Werner solely needed the corporate to develop, based on Staël von Holstein.
I used to be completely sure that I may get Jonas to do that proper, to create thousands and thousands of jobs for unemployed individuals, he says.
Von Holstein cashed out of Crowd1 and disappeared again in December 2020.
Von Holstein’s social media suggests he lives in Spain however has maintained ties to Dubai.
How deep the Swedish investigation into Crowd1 goes and whether or not different international locations are concerned stays unclear.
Jonas Werner just lately visited Thailand to advertise Crowd1 earlier than working again to Dubai.
As the pinnacle of Crowd1, it’s assumed Werner is within the crosshairs of Swedish authorities. Whether or not the Swedish investigation will result in a global arrest warrant stays to be seen.
Werner is believed to have to date did not disclose the Swedish raid or arrests to Crowd1 buyers.