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Germany judges 'Mishke' for 230 million euro fraud with call centers, Josifi enjoys Dubai
German authorities have formally filed charges against Mikheil Biniashvili, a citizen with Israeli and Georgian citizenship, suspected of being the head of the international cyber fraud network known as the “Milton Group.” The network also included Amant Josifi.
The news was made public by German media , which report that the criminal scheme has involved over 1,000 victims in German-speaking countries and caused financial damage of over 230 million euros.
According to the Bamberg General Prosecutor's Office and the Bavarian Cybercrime Center, Mikheil Biniashvili, also known by the nickname "Mishka", was at the head of a network that operated through call centers in Albania, Georgia, North Macedonia and Ukraine, offering fake investment platforms to European citizens.
Media reports say he was arrested in Armenia in August 2023 and extradited to Germany in May 2024, where he is currently being held in a high-security prison in Bavaria.
The investigation reveals that Biniashvili ran a call center with around 600 employees in Tirana, which operated at least 28 fraudulent platforms and harmed hundreds of citizens in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. He is also accused of developing a software called “PumaTS”, which was used by over 400 fraudulent financial websites on the Internet.
Amant Josif's name in the fraud scheme
This is the same network that Amant Josifi was also a part of. But unlike his partner Mikheil Biniashvili, Josifi has managed to escape justice.
The former advisor to the Minister of Defense, Olta Xhaçka, and the former business partner of Prime Minister Edi Rama’s brother, Olsi Rama, currently lives in Dubai and is trying to escape extradition to Spain. Between 2015 and 2022, together with his partner, Mikheil Biniashvili, they built a cyber fraud platform, exploiting the trust of European citizens to take over their accounts.
German law enforcement agencies have also implicated other individuals, including computer programmers, who were aware of the scam. German authorities are seriously investigating after receiving reports and complaints from various citizens who were exploited and harmed by these call centers to the point of leaving all their assets there.
The trial of Mikheil Biniashvili will begin on January 15 at the Bamberg State Court. He faces charges of organized fraud and profiteering in the form of a criminal group. The possible sentence ranges from 1 to 10 years in prison for each fraud count.
Meanwhile, Josifi has been declared wanted by Spain. The Albanian authorities themselves have surrendered to him. "There is an agreement on who SPAK will prosecute, who Spain will prosecute, who Germany and who France, and it has been agreed that for Amand Josifi Spain will prosecute, as has been done, Spain has prosecuted for him. We have prosecuted for several other subjects, who have been arrested, investigated and tried, but this is a normal part of cooperation with foreign authorities, especially within the framework of the joint team", declared in the Parliament the former head of SPAK, Altin Dumani, a few weeks ago.
On August 21, Erlind Çekaj, wanted by SPAK, was arrested in Dubai as part of the Russian-Maltese structured criminal group "Milton".
The arrested Erlind Çekaj managed the "IT PumaTS/SM Company" Call Center, one of 32 centers owned by Amant Josifi in Tirana, Durrës, Elbasan, Fier, Vlorë, Shkodër, Korçë, Gjirokastër.
Like Erlind Çekaj, the owner Amant Josifi escaped and has been living in Dubai since November 22, 2022, when with the help of the Albanian police he hid and was allowed to cross the border in Rinas, escaping the "Storm" operation that the Spanish Police, EUROPOL and EUROJUST carried out in Albania with the Albanian police and SPAK.
But SPAK and the police not only did not arrest Amant Josifi of the Call-Center, but they hid him and for nearly 2 years since his escape to Dubai, they have not declared him wanted, even though he led the criminal group that stole citizens of EU countries through the Call-Center network.
So far, SPAK has arrested 57 members of Amant Josif's "Call-Center" group and is looking for 21 others, while their boss has not been declared wanted, although he has been prosecuted, while on February 10, 2024. /Pamphlet
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