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In May 2022, FinTelegram published the initial report on the FCA-regulated e-Money Institution PaysTree and its network of companies and individuals. PaysTree and the network are controlled by Latvian citizens. One of the FCA-registered agents of PaysTree is the Hawex Group, which is allegedly controlled by iPayTotal founder Ruchi Rathor and her team. According to the UK Companies House PaysTree is controlled by the Swiss citizen Anselm Oskar Schmucki. Here is another update.
Key data
| Hub operator | PaysTree |
| Business activity | e-Money Institution and Merchant Service Provider |
| Domain | https://paystree.com |
| Legal entity | Paystree Ltd (UK) |
| Authorization | FCA-regulated e-Money Institution with reference no 900900 |
| Jurisdiction | United Kingdom |
| Related entities | payinter ltd d/b/a payinter (agent for PaysTree) Everyfin Ltd d/b/a everyfin (agent for PaysTree) Hawex Group Ltd d/b/a Hawex (agent for PaysTree) Paypugs Limited d/b/a PayPugs (agent for PaysTree) Sebes Technology Ltd, Cyprus, d/b/a SEBES Technology Tiaplata Fintech Ltd, Canada, d/b/a TIAPLATA Xpate Ltd d/b/a xpate regulated by FCA as EMI |
| Related individuals | Mihails Safro, Latvia (LinkedIn) Anna Zotova, Latvia (LinkedIn) Jevgenijs Marenics, Latvia Stanislavs Caikovskis, Latvia Evija Meimane, Latvia Guntars Reidzans, Latvia Oksana Zelepene, Latvia Kirill Baldakov, Russia German(s) Juferova, Latvia Roman(s) Jakovenko, Latvia Stanislav(s) Jakovenko, Latvia Eugene Malahov, Latvia Aleksandrs Zelinskis, Latvia Mohammad Awada, UK Michael Charles Borrelli, UK Anselm Schmucki, Swiss Alisa Saltykova, UK |
Short narrative
PaysTree Ltd has been an e-money institution regulated by the FCA since August 2018. It was founded in December 2017 by Latvian Mihails “Mike” Safro (pictured left), who was initially registered at UK Companies House as both a director and controlling person. He resigned from PaysTree in the summer to establish Xpate Ltd, another FCA-regulated EMI.
Currently, Swiss citizen Anselm Schmucki is the controlling person of PayTrees. The directors are the Latvians Stanislavs Caikovskis, Evija Meimane, and Guntars Reidzans.
In 2020, the company had 21 employees, most apparently in Latvia, as the LinkedIn connections suggest.
PaysTree‘s FCA-registered agents are also all controlled by Latvians: payinter (https://payinter.me), everyfin (https://everyfin.co.uk), Hawex (https://hawex.io), or PayPugs (https://paypugs.com). The acting individuals of everyfin also founded and run the SEBES Technology payment venture in Cyprus and TIAPLATA, a registered Money Business Service in Canada.
Hawex Group And iPayTotal
Hawex Group Ltd was founded in July 2021 by Russian Kirill Badakov, who was also registered as the company’s beneficial owner. With the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Badakov has withdrawn, and London-based musician Alisa Saltykova is now officially the beneficial owner. We have received whistleblower information that Hawex Group is linked to and controlled by Ruchi Rathor, the co-founder of iPayTotal Group.
Share information
If you have any information about the PaysTree ecosystem, please share it with us through our whistleblower system, Whistle42.
