According to the judge, Arbistar “could really be a pyramid scam.” The executive received charges with money laundering and belonging to a criminal group.
In recent days, the Spanish National Police arrested the CEO of Arbistar, Santiago Fuentes, after a procedure in one of his properties in the south of Tenerife. However, Arona’s Court of Instruction number 3 ruled his probation without bail, just 24 hours later.
According to local media, agents attached to the Provincial Brigade had conducted raids at the place and three other homes, where the executive spent the night randomly. At the hearing, the court formalized three charges against him: fraud, belonging to a criminal organization, and money laundering.
Arbistar rewarded its members only for the acquisition of additional funds from new customers, instead of making the committed investment in the “virtual markets”. For that reason, Judge Javier García Ramila considered that Arbistar “could really be a pyramid scam.”
There is no evidence that Arbistar invested the money of its users in the cryptocurrency markets, the court highlighted. Besides, they noted that the problems of those affected to withdraw funds have been occurring since August.
In case the court finds Fuentes guilty, he could face up to 16 years in prison. Concerning the application of more restrictive measures such as preventive detention, local media highlighted that the Public Prosecutor’s Office did not request their implementation. He was only required removing his passport and enforcing court appearance every 15 days.
Automated service for cryptocurrency arbitrage Arbistar closed the operations of the so-called community bot in mid-September, which affected 32,000 users. Since then, the operators have been demanding the return of their funds.
Reactions to the Arbistar Case
There is skepticism about the arrest of the executive among those affected. In messaging groups on social networks, they said that it will now be much more difficult to recover their blocked funds. Others stated that the court would release Fuentes in 72 hours.
The executive reportedly stayed with the company’s lawyers during the procedure. This type of arrest can occur when there is an accumulation of complaints about alleged financial fraud. In this specific case, there could be 21 complaints made in Tenerife, La Palma, Malaga, Huelva, Granada, Mallorca, and Lugo.
Other affected users noted that, after waiting weeks to receive the funds, they began to receive pending payments last October 22nd. Curiously, those still waiting for the return of their bitcoins stressed that some people began to report payment notifications when the arrest took place.
Fuentes recently stated that they had not “committed any crime” and that he would stay in Spain. He also told those who point to Arbistar as a Ponzi scheme that “it would be absurd to start a Ponzi scheme in Spain.” He added that, if they were, they would not be registered in the ZEC zone (Canary Islands special zone).
The CEO of Arbistar has repeatedly said that the closure of the bot was due to a technical failure, not related to any other cause. According to Arbistar, the bot assigned operators higher profits than corresponding for one year. The situation caused a deficit in the funds of the company that, in theory, they have not yet settled.
By Alexander Salazar
