The high-profile cannabis investment scam Juicy Fields is finally facing legal reckoning, two years after the company’s 2022 collapse left investors in limbo over lost funds, estimated at more than €645 million.
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This week, it was announced that two German nationals believed to be key figures in the operation will be formally charged by the Berlin public prosecutor’s office, a significant step in the multi-nation investigation coordinated by Europol and Eurojust.
Juicy Fields attracted investors worldwide with promises of substantial returns from “virtual cannabis plantations.” However, suspicions soon surfaced, revealing the scheme as a major fraud with Russian connections. The operation involved complex financial networks, including fake identities, money laundering, and cryptocurrency transactions routed through entities in Cyprus, Lithuania, Malta, and Estonia. After Juicy Fields’ collapse, European authorities launched extensive investigations, which in April 2024 led to large-scale raids and asset seizures across 11 countries.
New reports from CORRECTIV, Spiegel, and other European media outlets shed light on Juicy Fields’ structure, linking the operation to organized crime and high-ranking individuals in Russia. Key suspects, Viktor Bitner and Count Friedrich Ulrich Graf von Luxburg, are believed to have facilitated the fraud and its money-laundering operations. Russian national Sergei Berezin, thought to be the scheme’s mastermind, is now awaiting trial in Spain, though Russian authorities have reportedly refused to extradite some other suspects. With Germany’s prosecution progressing, authorities are focusing on bringing key players to justice, though most of the funds remain unrecovered and victims face slim chances of compensation.
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