HOW DID $100m BITCOIN FRAUDSTER AND PONZI SCHEMER GET A GRANADA CBI PASSPORT, WHEN EVEN RUDIMENTARY DUE DILIGENCE EXPOSED HIM AS A FRAUD?

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Arthur Gehl

We note that the German Bitcoin fraudster, ARTHUR GEHL is going to be sentenced in a German court shortly; he left a trail of victims in his wake, individuals who were promised 100% return on their cryptocurrency investment, which was touted to be able to make purchases at a major discount. My most recent estimate of the amount lost by his willing victims is the equivalent of USD$140m; he promised investors that he owned a private banking group, and that he had access to deeply discounted Bitcoin.

While I understand that his victims might have been lured into what they thought was an investment which was too good to be true, what baffles me is how the Grenada citizenship by Investment (CBI) program approved his application. Any simple due diligence inquiry would have found that he had no private banking license in Germany, and not even a financial services license, his statements notwithstanding. How did he get that prized Grenada passport? I remember, when the story broke, five years ago, there was speculation that he would use that CBI passport to slip out of Europe, and relocate somewhere in the Caribbean. In case you do not know it, a passport issued by any of the states in the Caribbean Community affords the holder the right to enter any of the East Caribbean states that are members of CARICOM. He could hide out in the most inaccessible jungle in Dominica, or disappear into a small residence in rural Saint Kitts, never to be found for the rest of his life. It's called Freedom of Movement in CARICOM.

So again I ask, is there anyone in Grenada now who is watching the CBI store, when it comes to vetting applicants for citizenship and passports? Where's the due diligence touted by investment migration consultants as bing first rate? Missing in action, when it came to Arthur Gehl.