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- Spanish influencer Álvaro Romillo jailed over $300M crypto Ponzi fraud.
- Authorities uncover €29M foreign account linked to Madeira Invest Club.
- Romillo faces 18-year sentence after defrauding 3,000 global investors.
Spanish crypto influencer Álvaro Romillo has been detained without bail after a court found strong evidence of large-scale financial fraud. Authorities accused him of running Madeira Invest Club, a platform that allegedly defrauded investors of more than $300 million.
Judge Jose Luis Calama issued an order to detain Romillo when investigators found a Singapore account containing EUR29 million of his business dealings. Government authorities considered him a flight risk due to the undeclared funds and his growing financial ties abroad.
The Civil Guard suspects Madeira Invest Club, spearheaded by Romillo, was a Ponzi scheme masquerading as an investment in luxury. It is reported to have deceived more than 3,000 investors, promising them high returns and guaranteed rates.
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Lavish promises and suspicious investments
The Madeira Invest Club, featured in local media, attracted investors with a minimum deposit of EUR 2,000. The participants were promised to receive shares in luxurious items, including yachts, Ferraris, gold, and computerized art deals.
They promised profits of approximately 20 percent per year, guaranteed, thus giving the impression of stability and rapid wealth accumulation. Later, the investigators discovered that no legitimate trading had taken place and other new deposits had been used to compensate the previous investors.
Romillo presented the court with a case in which he had repaid over 2,700 investors, yet asserted that he did not have any evidence to demonstrate the repayments. According to him, the refunds were made in cash, and he acknowledged that he did not possess any formal documentation to support his claims.
Political ties and potential penalties
It was also reported that Romillo gave EUR100,000 in cash to a far-right MEP, Luis Perez, under the alias Alvise, to fund his election campaign. Prosecutors are investigating this undeclared donation as part of the larger financial scandal.
The authorities have already confiscated hundreds of luxury properties and cars of Romillo and his associates. Tracers continue to follow the money being held in shell companies and foreign accounts linked to the Madeira Invest Club.
Upon conviction, Romillo may be sentenced to up to 18 years in jail for large-scale fraud and money laundering. The court addresses the matter of investor claims, as attempts to reclaim stolen money are underway in various jurisdictions.
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