JuicyFields global fraud scheme heats up, with Russian crime ring role revealed | How to order Skittles Moonrock online

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The chickens are coming home to roost.

Two men face indictment in what European investigators are calling the largest cannabis investment fraud in history, combining Russian organized crime, phony European nobility and cryptocurrency to allegedly defraud over 186,000 investors, according to an investigation by CORRECTIV, a European investigative journalism outlet.

The scheme, operating through an online platform dubbed JuicyFields, promised investors they could get rich through virtual cannabis cultivation. The platform offered returns up to 65% for buying digital plants supposedly tied to real-world marijuana growing operations, but investigators found virtually no actual cannabis production behind the elaborate facade, a year-long probe by CORRECTIV and seven media partners across four countries confirmed.

The alleged mastermind, Sergei Berezin, who is currently detained in Spain to face trial there, orchestrated a complex operation that laundered hundreds of millions through more than 50 shell companies across 20 countries. Police documents show approximately €446 million moved through accounts in Cyprus, Lithuania, Malta and Estonia before being converted to cryptocurrency.

“In the case of Juicy Fields, it was clear from the outset that many countries were involved, so it took time to get a clear overview,” a representative from the EU Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust) told Business of Cannabis.

The agency coordinated a Joint Investigation Team for cross-border evidence sharing, leading to coordinated raids in April when authorities arrested nine suspects across 11 countries involving 400 law enforcement officers, according to Europol. Four additional suspects were apprehended in the following days, investigators said.

While some suspects face prosecution, others remain beyond reach. Vitaly Markevich, identified as a top figure in the scheme, remains free in Russia despite an international arrest warrant, according to Danish broadcaster DR. When contacted by journalists, Markevich acknowledged the warrant but claimed he couldn’t remember what happened to the 4.8 billion Danish kroner from investors.

The investigation uncovered an elaborate network operating initially through Juicy Grow GmbH in Berlin, headed by Victor Bitner. German investigators later connected Bitner to Russian intelligence services, citing a previously reported 2018 operation where he allegedly offered compromising material about then-President and current-elect Donald Trump to U.S. officials.

Igor Kekshin, a former police officer in St. Petersburg who served as JuicyFields’ head of security before becoming a key witness, provided investigators with critical insights into the operation. In interviews, he described receiving €50,000 monthly as an enforcer before refusing an alleged murder-for-hire plot targeting Bitner. After turning witness, Kekshin faced violent retaliation including a car bombing and the poisoning of his dogs.

Financial investigators tracked approximately €5 million flowing to Garantex, a Moscow-based crypto exchange sanctioned by the U.S. for facilitating terrorist and criminal transactions. The investigation also revealed connections to previous investment frauds, including a blockchain-based telephone network scheme in Prague and a €39 million recycling investment scam in Warsaw.

The scheme’s sophistication extended to its use of European nobility credentials. Prosecutors identified Friedrich von Luxburg as a key figure who allegedly provided money laundering services while claiming aristocratic titles. Despite presenting himself as nobility with connections to former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and various diplomats, investigators found von Luxburg was born to a Bavarian farmer. Court records show he previously served nine years in prison for investment fraud, including schemes involving fake banks and nonexistent solar wind turbines. Through his lawyer, von Luxburg denied involvement with JuicyFields.

Austrian prosecutor Matthias Purkart told the outlet that criminal organizations increasingly operate like professional corporations, with Russian cybercrime cases surging since the Ukraine invasion. Cybersecurity experts, including CEPA Senior Fellow Olga Lautman, said that operations of this scale typically require approval from Russian security services.

Berlin prosecutor Ina Kinder plans to file formal charges by year’s end, focusing on suspects Bitner and von Luxburg to avoid getting bogged down in court. Total losses could very well exceed initial estimates, with over 550,000 registered platform users, according to Europol.