fraud and money laundering
Investigations against crypto investor Dadvan Yousuf continue
The Bern public prosecutor’s office must continue to pursue the Dadvan Yousuf (22) case. The young crypto investor is accused of commercial fraud and money laundering. The Federal Criminal Court did not accept the application from Bern to take over the case.
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The young crypto entrepreneur Dadvan Yousuf (22) is accused of commercial fraud and money laundering.
The Bern public prosecutor’s office must continue a criminal investigation on suspicion of commercial fraud and money laundering against the young bitcoin investor Dadvan Yousuf (22). This emerges from a decision of the Federal Criminal Court published on Wednesday.
According to the Bern public prosecutor’s office, Yousuf, described in the media as a crypto billionaire, is said to have set up a foundation in the canton of Zug in March 2021. With the help of national and international media, he is said to have convinced investors at events to buy their own cryptocurrency without actually wanting to implement the corresponding project.
Accounts in Liechtenstein, UK and USA
In doing so, he deceived investors about the investments and in particular about an algorithm for automated trading in cryptocurrencies that he allegedly invented. This emerges from the decision of the Complaints Chamber of the Federal Criminal Court, which dates from December 19, 2022 and was published on Wednesday. “Tages-Anzeiger” and Radio SRF reported on it.
The investment funds were received in a Swiss bank account by the end of May 2021, the decision further states. After balancing the bank relationship, the remaining assets were transferred to a financial institution based in Liechtenstein via an account at another bank on May 28, 2021.
Between May 28, 2021 and June 21, 2022, further payments from potential investors are said to have been made to various accounts in Yousuf at this bank. At least part of the money is said to have been transferred from Liechtenstein to a platform based in the USA and to the account of a company in Great Britain.
Federal Criminal Court declines jurisdiction
The present decision dealt with the content of the jurisdiction in this case. The first-named bank reported this to the Money Laundering Reporting Office (MROS) on May 18, 2021. The Bern public prosecutor’s office later requested that the case be taken over by the federal prosecutor’s office.
The Federal Criminal Court did not intervene as there are still too many unanswered questions and further investigations are required to definitively determine who is responsible. (SDA/shq)