Midland arrest in £550m Ponzi scheme probe

A WARWICKSHIRE man was arrested following an international probe into an alleged £550 million ‘JuicyFields’ medical cannabis investment scam.

Specialist National Crime Agency (NCA) officers were reportedly seen in the Bracebridge Road area of Atherstone.

A 42-year-old man – described as “a senior staff member” of an alleged scam company – was arrested in an NCA operation that also involved police officers from Spain. The organisation, called JuicyFields, is a “notorious and elaborate Ponzi scheme”.

The man arrested was allegedly responsible for paying salaries to staff members and helping to legitimise the company by attending industry events, the NCA said. It added a later search of a property where the man was arrested saw officers recover a number of digital devices.

The man, who was not named, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court for the start of extradition proceedings.

Ponzi schemes are a form of fraud that promise large profits with minimal risk.

Instead of generating returns through legitimate business activities, scammers use money from new investors to pay earlier investors, creating the illusion of a profitable enterprise. The scheme collapses when there aren’t enough new investors to sustain the pay-outs.

The NCA said that from early 2020 to 2022, more than 500,000 individuals across dozens of countries were registered to JuicyFields websites and offered promising crowdsourcing investment opportunities in the cultivation, harvesting and distribution of medicinal cannabis. Over 180,000 investors transferred funds.

Investments in the platform were thought to amount to a staggering 645 million euros – around £550m – though unreported damages could bring that sum far higher, NCA said.

In July 2022, NCA said those behind the scheme abruptly removed company profiles from social media networks and prevented users from logging into their accounts, thereby freezing cash withdrawals.

The NCA’s work was part of co-ordinated action across ten countries. A total of nine individuals were arrested and more than 30 properties searched.

Over the course of the probe, several millions of euros in crypto assets and bank accounts were frozen. Properties, vehicles, artwork, cash and luxury items were seized, as well as electronic devices and documents.

NCA branch commander Tom Barford said: “Criminals like those behind JuicyFields are highly adept at identifying new and more sophisticated ways to target victims.

“In this case, individuals across the world were lured by the promise of high returns with little or no risk, and then faced devastating losses.”