There was a huge network of scam brokers surrounding FSM Smart and the so-called Lau Scheme. Armin Ordodary, a Cypriot of Iranian descent, is at its core. He has run a network of frauds and boiler rooms with associates that stretches from Georgia to the Balkans and Italy. Regulators from all around the world may have issued more warnings in relation to the FSM Smart broker fraud than any other. It is also known that in certain jurisdictions, law enforcement agencies are conducting investigations. Desperately, Ordodary keeps contacting Google to request DMCA takedown in an effort to block media reporting.
The Lau Scheme of FSM Smart
Lau Global Services Corp was an offshore company registered in Belize and licensed by the International Financial Services Commission under licence number IFSC/60/402/TS/15. The Lau Scheme operated at least the following broker brands:
- MXTrade (www.mxtrade.com)
- LGS Corp (www.lgs-corp.com)
- TradingBanks (www.tradingbanks.com)
- Trade12 (www.trade12.com)
- MTI Markets (www.mtimarkets.com)
- Grizzly (www.grizzly-ltd.com)
The media team has been able to identify a variety of legal entities connected with the Lau Scheme:
- Lau Global Services Corp (Belize)
- Upmarkt d.o.o. (Serbia), now BizServe d.o.o.)
- Exo Capital Markets Ltd (Marshall Islands)
- Global Fin Services Ltd (UK)
- MTI Investments LLC or MTI Markets Ltd (Marshall Islands)
- Grizzly Ltd (Malta)
- R Capital Solutions Ltd (Cyprus)
- Benrich Holdings Ltd (Cyprus)
- Eyar Financial Corp Limited (Vanatu)
- SIAO Ltd (Cyprus)
The majority of the companies don’t have a website or are no longer active on social media, although Lau Global Service Corp.’s Facebook page is still accessible. Lau Global Services is also a shareholder in Grizzly Ltd., a Malta-based company that formerly served as a payment services provider for such dishonest and unlawful broker schemes, according to Offshore Leaks Database. Shlomo Matan Shalom Avshalom, an Israeli, is listed as a director of Grizzly Ltd.
Up until 2015, MXtrade was owned and operated by R Capital Solutions Limited, which is currently Eightcap EU Ltd, a CySEC-regulated CIF. After that, the brand and its clientele were moved to the Lau Scheme.
Armin Ordodary’s FSM Scheme
The FSM Smart (www.fsmsmart.com) scam broker, Armin Ordodary (shown on the left), is involved in the Lau Scheme. Through its Serbian boiler room Upmarkt d.o.o. (formerly Bizserve d.o.o.), of which Benrich Holdings Ltd., a company registered in Cyprus, is the only stakeholder, it has been actively courting clients. Armin Ordodary, a resident of Cyprus, serves as the director of both companies. With Kyiv, Ukraine, serving as something of a hotspot, more boiler chambers have already been discovered in other jurisdictions.
According to a leak, Upendo Limited in Cyprus runs a boiler room in Paphos and is also a member of the network. In December 2018, Upendo was officially registered with the company number HE392291. Christoforos Andreou and AMF Global Services Limited are listed as directors. These seem to be trustees on behalf of the beneficial owners.
