There would be about 6 thousand victims of the umpteenth cryptocurrency crash, but it is the first case of fraud connected to the world of bitcoin in Italy. The story of The New Financial Technology di Silea (Treviso but with registered office in London) is probably a replica – obviously illegal – of the pyramid selling scheme, known as the “Ponzi scheme”, by the man who invented it in 1930. Basically, in the Ponzi scheme there is no investment: by paying their share, newcomers finance the "returns" of those who have already joined. A "perfect" model until it is no longer possible to attract new investors and the house of cards collapses, with the company vanishing into thin air together with the savings of many investors.
A domino of investments that has extended from the Veneto to Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lombardy, Emilia Romagna, Lazio, reaching as far as the Canton of Ticino. According to initial calculations, the hole left by the company would be 100 million euroalthough yet to be verified. Among the customers there are those who have lost even hundreds of thousands of euros.
Cryptocurrency scandal in Italy: what happened?
About 6 people have invested their money in buying and selling cryptocurrencies chasing the promise of very high returns (a fixed interest of 10% for investments over 10 euros). But there wasn't any investment in bitcoins – mostly used as a decoy – driven by sophisticated algorithms using the arbitrage technique. And suddenly, investors were left with their money locked up and uncertain as to whether they'll ever see their money again.
Suspicions about the real solidity of the investment company had already started in May. It's not so much the rate of return offered but the guarantee of the fixed rate applied to investments made on highly volatile markets and not regulated by any authority. Furthermore, according to the lawyers, NFT does not have a solid capital structure (it is based in London and other companies in Sweden and in Dubai itself) and does not appear among the entities authorized by Consob to act as financial operator.
Hundreds have already turned to the Citizen Defense Movement who is considering consulting with a cyber security company to identify the path taken by the money.
In recent days the founding members, Christian Visentin e Matthew Rizzardo, during a conference call on Zoom they tried to reassure investors by promising "a quarterly investment return plan". And now they would be unreachable in Dubai. Only the third partner remained, the Roman lawyer Emanuele Giullino, announced that he had removed the other members, but then hinted that they removed themselves. Furthermore, he argued that he has not yet had access to the company's funds or investment portfolio but that customers will get their money back.
Can the money be recovered? And how?
At the moment several law firms in Italy are reportedly preparing to assist their clients in court against the company. And while many still hope that the company will return their money, savers will have to deal with the possibility of never recovering it. The only way to get them back in "short time" could be the company's decision to return the initial investments, while the way of class action it would not be feasible, given that New Financial Technology is governed by English law. Criminal and civil proceedings could be taken but the matter could last for years and not give the desired results.
