Lured by the winnings promised in a TV ad, a young Haut-Valais resident was roped into a money laundering scam and lost several tens of thousands of francs. The young man registered on a site and first invested 200 francs in cryptocurrency, “Walliser Bote” reported this Monday. Quick and regular gains then pushed him to break the bank.
In two months, he put 58,000 francs in savings, transferred from his Raiffeisen account. At that time, a broker with whom he had already had contact asked him to install software that would allow him to better manage his money. The victim complied, giving access to his banking data. The so-called broker then transferred 25,000 francs, obtained criminally, to the victim’s Raiffeisen account, claiming that these were investment gains.
Money transfers to Lithuania aroused the suspicions of Haut-Valaisan who tried to cut ties with his “advisor”. He eventually became involved in an online scam ring. In addition to losing his entire investment, he participated in money laundering without being aware of it.
The Valais public prosecutor sentenced the young man by criminal order for his participation in this illicit activity. He receives a 100-day fine of 115 francs with a two-year suspended sentence. He will also have to pay a fine of 850 francs and procedural costs. The defendant accepted the judgment which is therefore final. This is not the first time in Valais that the victim of such a scam is subsequently convicted of having laundered money without their knowledge. A retiree had already experienced such a mishap in 2019.
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