€260M Ponzi Scheme Ends in Spain: Guardia Civil detained the leader of Madeira Invest Club

€260M ponzi scheme ends in Spain: Guardia Civil detained the leader of Madeira Invest Club, known as CryptoSpain. More than 3,000 people were affected by his scheme, and it ultimately ended with his arrest through coordinated work by EUROPOL and law enforcement in the United States, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.

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Profile of the Scheme and Promises Used

MIC positioned itself as a private investment club and offered participation across a wide range of assets – real estate, luxury cars, yachts, watches, gold, cryptocurrencies, and whisky. The key product was built around digital works of art with a pre-agreed buyback contract and a fixed return for a specified period. The investigation recorded the absence of real economic activity and described the mechanism as a pyramid scheme – payouts to participants were made from new inflows rather than operating income. The promise of fixed returns and a guaranteed buyback, combined with an extremely heterogeneous list of "investments," served as the main high-risk marker for a retail investor.

An important clarification here is that cryptocurrencies appeared as one of many promised "assets," but the scheme relied not on on-chain mechanics, but on off-chain contracts with guaranteed returns and buyback. It was precisely this off-chain profile that became the key risk trigger: fixed interest, a promised buyback price, a lack of transparent revenue, and reliance on new fundraising.

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Structure, Geography, and Consequences

The organizers created a classic network of companies and bank accounts across different jurisdictions. Among them were Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Albania, the Dominican Republic, the United States, Malaysia, Belgium, Thailand, and Hong Kong. And although this has long been a well-known strategy, this multilayer structure complicated the tracing of flows and the dispersion of funds.

However, the investigation was successful, largely due to close coordination by EUROPOL and the law enforcement agencies of several countries, including U.S. Homeland Security, the Singapore Police Force, the Royal Malaysia Police, and the Royal Thai Police. In Spain, the proceedings are being conducted by Central Investigative Court No. 4 of the Audiencia Nacional with the participation of the Fiscalía contra la Corrupción y la Criminalidad Organizada, as well as the Economic Crime and Anti-Corruption Department of the UCO.

Guardia Civil reported on the ongoing legal proceedings. Victims can contact the UCO office at the number indicated in the release. The investigation continues to analyze transaction chains and buyback contracts, as well as work through the jurisdictions involved in the MIC structure.

Conclusion

The Madeira Invest Club case demonstrates how off-chain promises often collapse, and the mere mention of cryptocurrencies doesn't make a scheme crypto-native. This is one of the key factors why not only individual companies but entire national financial systems are moving on-chain. Stay tuned for the latest updates and opportunities in the new economy, crypto industry, and blockchain developments.