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Crypto Capital Corp’s $850M collapse linked to Israeli mafia cocaine ring

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Crypto Capital Corp’s $850M collapse linked to Israeli mafia cocaine ring

While Crypto Capital Corp, the once shadow bank for the entire crypto industry, wound down after $850 million was seized sometime between late 2018 and early 2019, the ramifications of its demise continue to be felt.

In the fallout from the collapse, two individuals were prosecuted: Reginald Fowler, who’s now serving prison time after pleading guilty to bank fraud, wire fraud, and operating an unlicensed money transmitting service, and Ivan Manuel Molina Lee, who remains in Poland after being arrested in Greece in 2019 and later extradited.

Two other associated individuals — brother and sister Oz and Ravid Yosef — remain fugitives of the law.

Protos tracked Ravid, aka Ravid Israel, to Israel where she’d begun an IVF business that failed. She subsequently started working for a UK-based fertility start-up.

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However, the story doesn’t end there. In a twist the likes of which only the crypto industry can offer, criminal proceedings against Molina Lee and his associates continues in Poland, with new consequential details emerging this month.

The Israeli mob and cocaine in power generators

Earlier, Polish court proceedings revealed a supposed intricate criminal conspiracy involving the Israeli mafia, Crypto Capital Corp, and cocaine being hidden in and transported via power generators.

According to Onet.pl, the largest news website in Poland, nearly the entire $850 million seized from Crypto Capital Corp (which ended up causing withdrawal issues at numerous exchanges, including, but not limited to, Bitfinex and now defunct Canadian exchange QuadrigaCX) was linked to an “Israeli drug lord” who was trafficking 100 kilograms of cocaine from Colombia to Europe every month.

Apparently, Molina Lee, who has ties to Canada, Panama, Colombia, and Poland, was helping to launder funds received for the cocaine through Crypto Capital Corp and making crypto purchases via multiple exchanges.

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The links between cocaine trafficking and Crypto Capital Corp appear to be anything but fictional.

In 2019 online sleuths discovered an office located in Bogotá, Colombia that was listed as the Colombian headquarters for Crypto Capital Corp. The shadow bank also had offices in Panama, where Molina Lee and Oz Yosef managed their affairs.

Crypto Capital Corp’s supposed Colombian headquarters, photo via Google Street View circa 2018.

Read more: Scoop: Crypto Capital Corp’s Ravid Yosef is flouting extradition in Israel

If accusations prove true, the trafficking scheme worked something like this: the Israeli mafia, represented by Shalom Lior Azoulay, would acquire hundreds of kilograms of cocaine in Colombia, paying producers with crypto.

The cocaine would then be transferred to Europe hidden in power generators, often arriving in The Netherlands and then moving throughout the rest of the continent, where the co-conspirators and their associates would then receive cash for the drugs.

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Photo of Shalom Azoulay via Polsat News.

Once they had cash in hand, they would move the funds through multiple banks, including a small Polish bank called the Cooperative Bank in Skierniewice, buy crypto, and then once again use it to purchase cocaine in Colombia.

In 2018, Bitfinex users reported that they were asked to utilize the same bank for wire transfers into and out of the exchange.

Azoulay implicates Reginald Fowler testimony

While Fowler never pled guilty to money laundering or crimes associated with drug trafficking, it appears that the Israeli charged in the drug trafficking conspiracy, Shalom Azoulay, implicates him as the reason he’s unable to leave Poland and facing significant jail time.

Azoulay told Onet.pl, “This is building a case based on the testimony of one officer from the United States. From the very beginning, I have been trying to explain that I’m in no way involved.

“At the last hearing in December 2025, I also confirmed that I had nothing to do with it. It’s creating a case that has no legal basis.”

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Despite the implications of the case, Israelis Oz and Ravid Yosef remain at-large, with no signs they will be apprehended and extradited by Israeli law enforcement, and Fowler is facing no additional charges for his role in the possible drug trafficking conspiracy.

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Why Pavel Durov says deleted Signal messages may not be gone

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Why Pavel Durov says deleted Signal messages may not be gone

Pavel Durov said push notifications can create a privacy risk even after users delete messages and apps. 

Summary

  • Pavel Durov said push notifications may preserve data even after users delete chats and apps.
  • Reports said FBI retrieved deleted Signal messages from iPhone notification logs in a criminal investigation.
  • Interest in decentralized messaging apps rose as bans, unrest and internet restrictions disrupted communication access.

His remarks followed reports that investigators retrieved deleted Signal messages from iPhone notification logs, renewing debate about metadata, device storage and private messaging tools.

Durov said push notifications can leave message data on a device outside the encrypted chat itself. He said that risk remains even when users turn off preview text, because people they contact may still use default settings.

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“Turning off notification previews won’t make you safe if you use those applications, because you never know whether the people you message have done the same,” he wrote.

He linked that point to privacy settings that depend on choices made by both sides of a conversation.

Durov referred to a report first published by 404 Media. The report said the FBI accessed deleted Signal messages from notification logs stored on an Apple iPhone used in a criminal case.

The case drew attention to how investigators can access data created around messages, even when message content remains protected by end-to-end encryption.

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Moreover, the reports renewed focus on metadata, notification storage and other records created by messaging apps and operating systems. Encrypted content may stay protected, but surrounding device data can still reveal communication details.

That debate also increased interest in messaging tools that try to reduce centralized data collection. Developers of decentralized platforms say local storage, routing methods and network design affect how much information remains after users send or delete messages.

Decentralized apps gain users during bans

Interest in decentralized messaging and social platforms has risen since 2025 during blackouts, unrest and internet restrictions. Exploding Topics data cited in the report showed online search interest in decentralized social media platforms rose 145% over five years.

The report also pointed to Bitchat, a Bluetooth mesh messaging app that works without the internet. It said more than 48,000 users in Nepal downloaded the app during a social media ban in September 2025, while Durov said Telegram bans in Iran drove users toward VPNs instead of state-backed services.

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Bitcoin, Ether Near Levels That Could Signal Trend Reversal: Investor

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Bitcoin, Ether Near Levels That Could Signal Trend Reversal: Investor

Bitcoin and Ether aren’t far from levels that could signal a trend reversal this year, despite a growing consensus across the industry calling for a bear market, according to macro analyst Jordi Visser.

“If we trade above $76,000 and at the same time we see Ethereum above $2,400, I believe that is the beginning of a move that will be sustainable this year because I don’t think we’re going to have a recession,” Visser said on the Anthony Pompliano podcast published on YouTube on Friday.

A move to $76,000 would represent an increase of 6.1% from Bitcoin’s (BTC) price of $71,646 at the time of publication, according to CoinMarketCap data. Ether’s (ETH) move to $2,400 would represent an increase of around 8%.

Inflation is going to remain high, says Visser

Traders on the prediction market Kalshi are leaning toward a similar macro outlook to Visser, pricing a 24% chance of a recession in 2026, down 10% over the past 30 days.

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“I think inflation is going to stay elevated, and I think people are going to need to find something that is making money in a world where the S&P is not moving anywhere,” Visser said.

Jordi Visser spoke to Anthony Pompliano on Friday. Source: Anthony Pompliano

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) revealed in a report published on Friday that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in April rose 3.3% year-over-year.

Visser’s recent comments challenge the growing view across the crypto industry that 2026 still has more downside ahead, with some even calling for a move below the Feb. 6 yearly low of $60,000. 

Bitcoin may fall below $60,000 yearly low

On March 31, veteran trader Peter Brandt said that this may not be the lowest level for 2026, forecasting that Bitcoin could retest or even move “slightly lower” than the price level in September or October this year. 

“That would then be the bear cycle low,” Brandt said. 

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Related: Bitcoin charts point to $80K in April: Here’s how it may happen

Visser explained that he has never been a “big fan” of labeling Bitcoin price trends as bull or bear markets. 

“Especially when we’re at all-time highs. Like, at some point in there, it just seems like okay, they go up and then the normal course is at some point people don’t invest as much as they have,” he said.

Magazine: Should users be allowed to bet on war and death in prediction markets

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