Do not invest more money than you can afford to lose.
The German financial markets and services regulator BaFin said it has banned the local partner of the MLM fraud OneCoin – IMS International Marketing Services GmbH. In a statement on its site, the regulator said it has ordered IMS International Marketing Services GmbH to terminate the financial transaction business with OneCoin traders, effective immediately.
Furthermore, BaFin has blocked the bank accounts of IMS holding €29 million. According to estimates of the regulator, between December 2015 and 2016, IMS has collected from German investors €360 million in fees on behalf of OneCoin. The aforementioned €29 million are part of this sum.
According to German law, IMS is required a license in order to conduct such financial business – something it does not have and could be fined €1.5 million for the violation.
BaFin notes, however, the the investigation continues and the decision is not final.
As we reported previously OneCoin is a MLM fraudulent scheme based in Bulgaria and ran by Dr. Ruzha Ignatova. She and her associates promise gullible investors fantastic profits, if only they signed up for the scheme.
The company also claims it has mined 749,970,000 OneCoins and has “ global customer base of millions of people in over 195 countries and six continents and is independent of governments”. Small wonder, considering that OneCoin is on a tour and recently held glitzy events in Zagreb, Tokyo, London, Madrid, Istanbul, Helsinki, Pristina, Romania, Kazakhstan, etc, promising spectacular profits and lucrative payouts for those who bring in more people.
OneCoin has been the subject of warnings from the financial regulators in Belgium, UK and Latvia and publications in various European media telling of the scam and likening the OneCoin to “Monopoly money”.