They accuse a young man who played on the stock market with the savings of other Vitorians of fraud.
Several people condemned the man from Vitoria who They entrusted their savings to investing. 23-year-old young man, company owner Jofer Financial Investments SL and that he repeatedly delayed or delayed investors’ requests for a return of money invested or profits made.
The case is on its way to court, and there are numerous civil lawsuits, although victims have not ruled out filing a criminal case for possible fraud.
The problems began back in 2020, although they have worsened in recent days. Many of its investors have long suffered in recent years. before get back your initial investment. Even the accused sent them screenshots transfers that did not arrive later or checks that banks did not accept due to lack of funds.
Many also have pending claims and evidence of debt for supposed benefits received. Others abandoned them outright after a few months of absence. The accused himself claims that at the moment he has “from 15 to 35 clients.” To this should be added those who have already ceased to be such after returning their money.
Gasteiz Hoy spoke with the accused, who claims that everyone who claimed before 2023 got their initial investment back. What, however, up to 20 victims deny: all of them they amount to half a million euros and they filed a case.
At the same time, the last ones who tried to return the money in 2024 suffered in the same way as their predecessors and did not return the money within the originally established time frame.
Sole administrator Jofer was looking for contacts of close people to attract investors
Jofer’s clients invested in this company with the support of its sole administrator, a 23-year-old young man who had earned their trust. In fact, most of the victims are under 30 years of age, and they even got their parents involved. According to the victims, the amounts they lent to Jofer almost always exceeded 10,000 euros, and in some cases reached 75,000 euros.
Admitted violations
He a sole administrator operating in the financial markets without any qualifications or supervision. The company was founded as SL in 2021, although it previously carried out similar operations as a freelancer. However, at all times acted illegally and fraudulentlyas he himself admits:
- Jofer has not registered with the CNMV because Financial consulting companywhat is required by law.
- Never provided reports in accordance with the requirements of each limited company.
- Investors were not provided with detailed reports. Just a one sentence message sent from a Hotmail account.
- He the standard contract with clients contained lies regarding the company and did not specify how to return the money.
- With some clients he didn’t even sign the contract correspondent.
- He did not report the operation to the authorities, so he numerous bank accounts blocked the fruit of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Thus, those affected are questioning whether this is all a deliberate deception or simply malpractice on the part of a person who created a business without knowing how to run it.
“Exclusive business”
Investors Joferwhich are considered deceived In many cases, these are people close to the young man. And this is exactly what the defendant emphasizes about his business, which was only for very close people: “It was for family, for friends and friends of my friends.” In other cases, the defendant secured their friendship so that investors would not doubt him.
It was actually a tactic to attract customers by making them believe it was something exclusive. Most initially invested a small amount. Seeing great performance what Jopher says they got encouraged them to invest more. And they even invited family and friends to do the same. Exorbitant profits and very far from the logic of the stock market.
- How can these supposed benefits be achieved?
According to the accused, the benefit always came from the bot, which he allegedly developed himself and which follows the strategy “automated intraday trading operations“.
“Never had a loss, always made a profit, week after week.”
“There were never any losses, and the weekly report always reported profits.“Week after week,” agree numerous affected people who contacted Gasteiz Hoy. And how did he do it? “He said he could never lose because the moment the markets fell, everything stopped.”
The accused himself explains to Gasteiz Hoy that the above bot He only worked with companies in the DAX 40, a German index equivalent to the IBEX 35. Companies with high trading volume and therefore low volatility. This makes the excellent performance it supposedly received even more amazing.
Weekly review
The defendant sent (and still sends) weekly information about each investor’s “portfolio” of securities. Wallets that for legal purposes were Jopher Financial Investments, not an investor. This position email, sent from a Hotmail account, consisted of just two lines, as you can see in the image:
Among the victims are people without knowledge of the stock market, but also others who regularly worked in the financial or cryptocurrency markets. And many of them have been demanding the money they are entitled to for some time now.
In March, posters appeared on the streets accusing him of fraud.
Last March, several posters appeared on the streets of Vitoria-Gasteiz with his face and name, as well as the word “SCAMMER“The issue has now become widespread with some of the victims making it public.
An Instagram account united the victims: some had already received their money, but they had to do it and They don’t want more people to go through what they’ve already gone through.. Others are waiting to receive benefits. In addition, defendant forced him to sign a clause agreeing to receive money in exchange for “not speaking about me again.”
Over the years, the accused showed signs of improving his standard of living, a deceived informer. As such, he has acquired various vehicles, made high-level trips and even boxed at the Alaves stadium last season. And, despite his high standard of living, the accused He has been working for a subcontractor since last fall. public company of the Basque government.
Although Jofer is a one-manager company with no employees, the owner’s family also maintains relationships with investors. His friend even came to stand up for the client on behalf of Jofer.
Blocked accounts
From 2021 several banks blocked the accounts of various companies due to large amounts of funds not justified. And this is the excuse that the accused uses to not return the money immediately.
The last victims invested their money in 2024, while the remaining investors continue to wait for them from 2021.
Although The first complaints relate to cases from 2021.the last investors landed in Jopher in 2024. They did this, again, because of the trust placed in them by the accused.
To this day, the owner of Jofer assures inability to return the initial investment due to being on sick leave. This is the excuse he used against the last ones who claimed it and to whom he promised to return it a few days ago. Money, which in this case did not arrive on time as promised.
Bottomless checks and various excuses
Among the testimonies collected by Gasteiz Hoy, this sequence is repeated almost identically. Persons who, when making a request to recover all or part of the amount, they got “long” from these people. The contract does not actually mention the terms of return on investment, except for the fact that “the client must request the withdrawal of the initial investment or profits received by email to ….@hotmail.com or via WhatsApp. to number 6…..”
Several customers report receiving screenshots of transfers that did not arrive.
Some have been complaining for almost three years. During this time, there were also those who returned their money and profits. Also among the accusations against him is sending screenshots with unreal transfers or that they never arrived.
In some cases, when cashing a check the bank refused due to lack of funds or by blocking accounts. Even other victims report that the accused accompanied them to Madrid to visit various branches. A journey that ended with a return to Vitoria-Gasteiz without the possibility of receiving payment.
Where’s the money?
Each of the victims, as well as the different lawyers Gasteiz Hoy spoke with, have different theories about the money. There are those who fear that this is all a scam and there is no money or it is hidden in the form of NFTs and cryptocurrencies. Others believe that the money is there, but is blocked by the wrong actions of the company.
The accused explains to Gasteiz Hoy that does not currently own NFTs or cryptocurrencies (assets not subject to seizure), but he admits that in the past he had assets of this type worth thousands of euros.
Jofer Inversiones Financieras signed a contract with some of the plaintiffs recognition of debt. Recognition includes the original amount plus any interest and profits received. The returns far exceed those expected from any normal investment.
It is these admissions of debt that have already been submitted to the courts. Thus, in anticipation of the possible initiation of criminal proceedings, the majority of claims are currently filed in civil law, in the form of demands for payment of amounts. In the meantime, the victims are planning to file a possible criminal case. Although it is true that a previous attempt many years ago was rejected.
Service contracts
The contracts signed by Jofer are based on simple service agreement. Clearly an incorrect agreement, with numerous inaccuracies. There are even clients who didn’t even sign the contract, although they were given money for investment anyway.
The contract is to ensure that the company meets the requirements to operate.
The said contract mentions from the very beginning that Jofer meets the requirements necessary to work as a stock broker or trader, as well as an intermediary. And this is incorrect, since the company does not appear in the CNMV mandatory registration for financial advisory companies. The agreement states that the company guarantees the invested capital.
The contract also guarantees that “it will be subject to the rules established by DAX (the stock exchange entity of this contract).” The problem is that DAX is an index like IBEX, but it is not a company.
The defendants are now trying to transform contracts into loans between individuals
The accused associates these violations with “bad advice from the start“. The contract model has been repeated since the company’s inception in 2021. During this time, there were several law firms that advised Jofer, none from Vitoria-Gasteiz, the defendant emphasizes.
Right now Jopher is working with his current lawyers to amend the current contracts.. He wants to turn them into credit between individuals. A legal formula that would not be consistent with the work the accused was allegedly doing. However, this will allow you to justify such large cash movements.