The Equiti Group is a global Forex and CFD broker regulated by the Jordan Securities Commission, the FSA Seychelles, and the FCA in the UK. However, Equiti illegally offers a 1:500 leverage also to European clients. BridgerPay is a VISA-registered Merchant Servicer and the operator of an AI-powered payment platform. In November 2020, Equity reported a 30% increase in global deposit approvals with BridgerPay. Today, Gareth Bateman, Global Head of Payments, praised BridgerPay for its services on LinkedIn.
Illegal Offshore Activities
In our review of September 20, 2022, UK and EU (EEA) residents could register with Equiti Brokerage (Seychelles) Limited and transfer
- theoretically unlimited amounts via wire transfer to ABSA Bank in Seychelles and
- up to $20,000 via BridgerPay and its payment options
without proper KYC. We call these pre-KYC deposit options, which are not permitted in any EEA regimes. This would also have given us access to the 1:500 leverage not allowed in EEA. In this respect, the Equiti Group‘s activity must be classified as unauthorized.
Great Technology For Scammers
Apparently, BridgerPay‘s technical solution is indeed impressive. However, the ambitions of the Cyprus-based payment processor run by Israelis Ran Cohen and Nati Harpaz are rather modest in terms of compliance.
In recent years, BridgerPay has attracted more attention than any other payment processor as a facilitator of broker scams and illegal broker activities. In this regard, the scammers have used BridgerPay‘s excellent technology to steal from their victims efficiently.
In May 2022, BridgerPay secured a $6 million seed funding round, attracting former Mossad chief Tamir Bardo‘s Southern Israel Bridging Fund (SIBF) as an investor.
