Illegal Broker Scheme’s New Home: Good Morning Georgia!

Update Feb 11, 2018: We received information and documents that some of the top managers of the illegal Bulgarian scheme of Gal Barak already moved to Tbilisi, Georgia. Among others, the Boiler room company Alpha Marketing which is officially owned by E&G Bulgaria (see commercial register here) has taken over the operational lead. The company’s director is a certain Keso Beselia. Hence, the connection between Gal Barak‘s E&G Bulgaria and Alpha Marketing is established proving that this illegal scheme continues to operate in Georgia. We will present a more detailed explanation in another article to be published soon.

The police authorities of Austria, Germany, and Bulgaria have caused turmoil by accessing the offices of the operators of the illegal brokerage network in Bulgaria. The arrest of Israeli Gal Barak has led the remaining heads of the cybercrime organization, Gery “Gabi” Shalon, and Vladislav Smirnov, to reorganize their operations. This also includes the relocation of E&G Bulgaria‘s operation from Bulgaria to Georgia.

Georgia – New Home Of Cybercrime?

Georgia is home to Gery Shalon‘s father, Shota Shalelashvili (შოთა შალელაშვილი). He is a member of the Parliament of Georgia and deputy chairman of the governing party “Georgian Dream“. Shota Shalelashvili is listed as the richest parliamentarian by the Georgian Journal. The opposition repeatedly accuses him of corruption and money laundering. Among other things also in connection with the indictment of his son Gery Shalon in the U.S. Undoubtedly, Shota Shalelashvili has an interesting past and has spent in Israel a prison term for fraud, for example. Read more on the Shalelashvile family here on FinTelegram.

Protected By Transcription

The problem with citizens from countries with different languages and writing systems is the transcription of their names. Therefore a Gery Shalelashvili becomes a Gery Shalon. In many cases, such as Gery Shalon, they also use the Hebrew version of their name and Gery Shalon becomes Gabi Shalon. Thus many Israelis in this cybercrime organization also have different names and spellings. This makes it much more difficult for journalists and authorities to find information on a person of interest and the respective activities. In this respect, Georgia is probably the perfect new home for these people – the country has less than 4 million inhabitants and as many people speak Georgian, which has its own writing system, the Georgian script.

Fraud Protected By Politicians

It is widely known in the cybercrime scene that Shota Shalelashvili uses his political contacts and holds his protective hand over his son. It is therefore not surprising that the Israeli members of the cybercrime organization of Gal Barak, Gery Shalon and Vladislav Smirnov are now moving to Georgia to operate the boiler rooms for their illegal broker schemes such as XTraderFX, SafeMarkets, Golden Markets or CryptoPoint.

At this point, it has to be stated that it is above all Israelis who run this cybercrime organization which defrauded investors from Europe and the USA by billions. It is incomprehensible that Israeli politicians and authorities take a very relaxed stance when it comes to the cybercrime of their citizens. As long as these crimes are not committed in Israel. Therefore, the fraudulent binary options industry found its center in Tel Aviv, Israel, before expanding into the EU in Bulgaria. Actually, this fraudulent binary options industry was an important part of the “Start-Up Nation Israel” over the last ten years.

Simona Weinglass of the Times of Israel has repeatedly pointed out in her articles the failure of her country’s politicians and authorities to consequently crack down on binary option fraudsters like Gal Barak. Recently, a remarkable post by Jacob Maslow appeared on the Times of Israel blog, also putting his finger on the wound.

Now the circus of these cybercrime artists seems to be settling in small Eastern European Georgia. Good mood spreads again after the short shock in Bulgaria. Kfir Levy, Marina Andreeva, and friends have already commenced their work in the restructured environment. Under the protecting umbrella of the party ruling there. We will ask the relevant EU authorities for taking notice.

It’s actually a completely unacceptable situation for the European Union – Countries hosting cybercriminals that attack EU citizens with illegal broker schemes.