The Office of the Attorney General (PGR) has secured a ruling authorizing the extradition of Russian citizen Sergei Berezin to Spain. A press release from the PGR explains that Berezin is the alleged ringleader of an international criminal organization accused of defrauding investors of over €645 million through fraudulent investments in medicinal cannabis.
The extradition process was managed by the International Legal Cooperation and Human Rights Agency, in response to a request from Spanish authorities seeking Berezin’s prosecution for aggravated fraud, money laundering, and membership in a criminal organization. These offenses are defined and penalized under Articles 248, 249.1, 249.2 a), 301, and 570 bis of the Spanish Criminal Code.
The Supreme Court of Justice, through its Second Chamber, issued a ruling on 31 July 2024, granting the extradition of Sergei Berezin to Spain. The court upheld the pre-trial detention measure imposed on Berezin on 9 May 2024.
Investigations have revealed that Sergei Berezin is allegedly the mastermind behind the fraudulent scheme operated through Juicy Fields, a web platform targeting retail investors in legal cannabis. Active primarily through the domain juicyfields.io between 22 March 2020, and 13 July 2022, the platform collapsed, leaving investors with significant losses.
Juicy Fields purportedly used investor funds to finance cannabis cultivation partnerships. After harvest, the cultivation partner would sell the product, and Juicy Fields would receive a portion of the profits, which were then returned to the investor. The platform promised exorbitant returns of between 706% and 168,988% per year, depending on the type of cannabis plant invested in.
A joint investigation involving authorities from Spain, Germany, and France revealed that the funds collected from victims were not reinvested in medicinal cannabis but were instead used for partial payments to victims, following a classic Ponzi scheme. The remaining funds were used to finance the operation, including participation in fairs and events, IT infrastructure, public offices in various countries, and marketing campaigns on Google and social media. Most of the investment was dissipated through a complex network of companies and bank accounts both within and outside of Europe.
As reported by the PGR, an analysis of the juicyfields.io server revealed a total investment of €645,825,170.83 in the platform, consisting of €455,184,635.74 in fiat currency and the equivalent of €192,640,534.79 in cryptocurrencies.
Spanish authorities allege that Sergei Berezin was also responsible for another similar fraud called Recyclix, where he used the alias “Mark Kowal” to allegedly embezzle €39 million.
22 August 2024