German law enforcement agents in Cologne have been investigating boiler room operator Rodeler DE GmbH, which operated CySEC-regulated broker 24option, since at least 2018. In this regard, law enforcement actions had already taken place in Israel in August 2021. Among other things, Israeli law enforcement agents raided offices of PandaTS and seized extensive data. On December 21, 2021, law enforcement announced that two former managers of the German boiler room were arrested.
On December 21, 2021, German law enforcement agents seized numerous bank accounts and data on cell phones, servers, and computers. Two 30-year-old men – Kevin S. and Vladimir K. – have been arrested. Allegedly, they have been boiler room managers in Cologne and responsible for huge victims’ losses. FinTelegram knows the ID of the detained. They will be interrogated and may or may not be released on parole.
German law enforcement arrested the former boiler room managers on charges of being leading members of an international criminal organization that deceived investors throughout Europe with the 24option broker platform. Customers were offered the opportunity to bet on falling or rising prices of financial products such as currencies, contracts for difference, shares, cryptocurrencies, and commodities. According to law enforcement, 24option worked with fake celebrities such as Boris Becker and fraudulent marketing campaigns to boost confidence in the online platform.
The criminal organization allegedly pursued the sole goal of stealing investors’ money. Some 60 employees have been working in the boiler room in Cologne. They falsely claimed to be trading experts in the financial market. In June 2020, the Cologne boiler room was relocated to Cyprus and later closed by the banking supervisory authority on suspicion of fraud. On August 10, Israeli law enforcement agents seized vast amounts of data (100 terabytes) and assets worth 12 million euros during a search of several private and business addresses in Israel at the request of German authorities.
