The Maltese company Up & Down Marketing Limited d/b/a OneTwoTrade is accused of scamming hundreds of victims, millions of euros with its binary options fraud scheme has gone into liquidation. The company was voluntarily put into liquidation by its directors. One of its former directors Ivan Grixti (LinkedIn) is a former Malta Labour Party MEP candidate and a lecturer at the Department of Accountancy at the University of Malta. Regulators across the globe warned against the OneTwoTrade scam.
The Israeli Background
Up & Down Marketing Limited is registered in Malta with company number C50369. Its registered address shows an empty office at 2, Geraldu Farrugia Street, Zebbug, Malta. Ivan Grixti served as director and legal representative of the Maltese branch of the globally acting Israeli binary options scam operator. Up & Down Marketing was also licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA). Sources said that MGA did not take any action against this company despite the many regulatory warnings in other jurisdictions.
For example, in 2015, Canadian regulators OSC, BCSC, and MSC issued warnings against OneTwoTrade. The Australian ASIC has also issued warnings against the broker. The Times of Israel reported that the boiler room behind OneTwoTrade was operated in Israel. Specifically, the boiler room operator was said to be Inventiva Marketing Ltd in Ramat Gan. This was also confirmed by the Senior Fraud Investigator of the Manitoba Securities Commission (MSC), Jason Roy.
Public records now show that Up & Down Marketing Limited has been put into liquidation. Jean-Paul Debono has been appointed as liquidator. RSM Malta acts as an auditor. Solomon Krok from South Africa currently acts as the company’s director.
The Regulators Non-Actions
MGA is headed by Carl Brincat, who described due diligence as a “shit show”. One of the regulator’s consultants is Gordon Cordina, Chairman of Bank of Valletta, where OneTwoTrade had its bank accounts. James Grech acted as Chief Internal Auditor of MGA and resigned without any public announcement.
Despite having an MGA license, and being involved in a huge binary options scam, Malta’s FIAU failed to take any action. No fines were ever issued against this company. The FIAU had also failed to take action against Pilatus Bank, with its assistant Director Alfred Zammit signing off a letter to Pilatus Bank exonerating it from any wrongdoings.
How To File Victim’s Complaints
Victims of OneTwoTrade can file complaints with the liquidator Jean-Paul Debono, to have their stolen funds returned. Debono leads https://www.debonoassociates.com.
Complaints should be copied to the former director of Up & Down Marketing Limited, Ivan Grixti, who was responsible for the company’s business activities. Ivan Grixti lectures at the University at Malta and his contact details are public at https://www.um.edu.mt/profile/ivangrixti.
