Luxembourg has a new citizen among Europe’s most wanted criminals. The profile of Philippe Stanislas Antoine Wasila was added to the list of Europe’s most wanted criminals released by the European criminal police agency Europol on Monday November 11.
This list brings together particularly dangerous criminals, perpetrators of serious acts such as robberies, murders, attempted murders, large-scale frauds, etc.
Philippe Wasila, 57, is wanted for “falsification of administrative documents and trafficking in false administrative documents”, “laundering the proceeds of crime”, “organized or armed robbery” and “fraud”, according to his file on Europol.
A scam worth more than 5 million euros
He is notably suspected of an “investment fraud” whose damage is estimated at 5.4 million euros for acts committed between 2013 and 2014. According to Europol, the fifty-year-old posed as a man of business and a lawyer. According to the police agency, “to gain the trust of potential investors, Philippe Wasila presented a lavish lifestyle and presented himself as a wealthy businessman. He also claimed to be the director of a purported investment fund, promising substantial returns from an innovative project involving the development of an autonomous drone.
As a result, many investors agreed to transfer funds to Philippe Wasila. “However, it has since emerged that the funds invested were never allocated to the drone project. Instead, Philippe Wasila set up a network of opaque companies and foreign bank accounts to siphon off investors’ money, using the funds to finance his private lifestyle.
Thus, “investigations revealed that Philippe Wasila was neither a licensed lawyer nor an investment manager registered in Luxembourg or any other jurisdiction. The so-called investment fund was never recognized by Luxembourg’s financial regulator, the Financial Sector Surveillance Commission. Philippe Wasila did not have the necessary authorizations to manage or supervise an investment fund,” adds Europol. An international arrest warrant was issued against him on April 17.
Philippe Wasila speaks Luxembourgish, German, French, English, Italian and Greek according to Europol. “Anyone with information on the current whereabouts of Philippe Wasila should contact FAST Luxembourg by email as well as directly via www.eumostwanted.eu.”
It should also be noted that another Luxembourger still appears on the Europol list, in the person of Abdullah Khodor, accused of burglary and kidnapping. On the other hand, the file of Sasa Bibic, accused of attempted murder, was withdrawn.
