Information Request – Lau Global Services Corp., Armin Ordodary, and FSM Smart (2024)
In the era of CFDs and binary options, massive international forex scams arose. With the peak occurring in or around 2015, many of them began operating between 2010 and 2012. Legislators and regulators needed some time to recognize emerging trends and devise effective countermeasures. The beginning of 2014 saw regulators issue warnings about binary options, signaling the end of the FX gold rush. It took three more years for regulators to formally outlaw binary options. A few international forex scammers duped hundreds of thousands of retail investors between 2012 and 2017. One of the criminal groups that created a wave of illicit binary options, forex, and cryptocurrency trading methods is Lau Global Services Corp. Media has requested additional information to establish an EFRI funds recovery campaign.
The FSM Smart Broker Scheme
The fraudulent broker scheme FSM Smart (www.fsmsmart.com) has been aggressively gaining clients through their Serbian boiler room Upmarket d.o.o., according to information provided to the media by whistleblowers. Benrich Holdings Ltd., a company based in Cyprus, is the only shareholder in this boiler room. Armin Ordodary, a resident of Cyprus, is a director of both companies. Upmarkt is only one of the Lau Global Services Corp scheme’s several boiler rooms. FinTelegrem has information that indicates FSM Smart and Armin Ordodary are involved in the “Lau Scheme.”
The “Lau Scheme” has only a few minor branches, including the Serbian Upmarkt d.o.o. Kiev, Ukraine, has served as something of an epicentre for additional boiler rooms that have already been discovered in other jurisdictions. For instance, call centre addresses in Kiev were discovered by the Russian website Forex Scam (www.forex-scam.net). Apart from E&G Bulgaria, Lau Global Services Corp is unquestionably one of the biggest illicit broker enterprises on the planet. Even with so many offshore connections, this operation appears to be run out of Ukraine and the Balkans.
However, let’s begin with FSM Smart and work our way up to the larger picture. Early in 2018, the illicit broker FSM Smart made its debut. Investor cautionary note regarding the current FSM Smart (www.fsmsmart.com) scheme:
- August 2018: In the summer of 2018, the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) of New Zealand issued a warning on FSM Smart.
- In November 2018, the Canadian watchdog in Manitoba (MSC) issued an investor warning against FSM Smart, while the financial market regulatory organisation in Switzerland,
- FINMA issued a warning against the company. FSM Smart’s contact address is reportedly Hertensteinstrasse 51, 6004 Luzern in Switzerland.
The Global Services Network of Lau
It is clear that there are connections between the operators of the FSM Smart scams and other con artists, such as MTI Markets (www.mtimarkets.com). According to reports, Lau Global Services Corp., the company behind this unlawful broker, also ran the following other illicit broker schemes:
- TradingMX (www.tradingmx.com)
- (www.lgs-corp.com) LGS Corp.
- (www.tradingbanks.com) TradingBanks
- Trade12: https://www.trade12.com
- mtimarkets.com, the website of MTI Markets
- (www.grizzly-ltd.com) Grizzly
The following companies have been linked to the Lau Global Services Group by the Media team:
- Belize’s Lau Global Services Corp.
- Serbian Upmarkt d.o.o.
- Global Fin Services Ltd (UK), Exo Capital Markets Ltd (Marshall Islands), and MTI Investments LLC or MTI Markets Ltd (Marshall Islands)
- Malta-based Grizzly Ltd.
- Cyprus-based R Capital Solutions Ltd.
- Cyprus-based Benrich Holdings Ltd.
- SIO Ltd (Cyprus)
- Eyar Financial Corp Limited (Vanatu)
Most of the businesses don’t have a website or aren’t active on social media. Armin Ordodary, a resident of Cyprus, appears to be involved in the “Lau Scheme.” The last several months have seen the disappearance of all the websites and social media accounts he is directly related to going offline. Only to bring up his SIAO Ltd. The reason behind this is the question.
Regulators from many jurisdictions issued numerous warnings to the brands and businesses connected to Lau Global Services Corp.
- August 2015: MXTrade and Lau Global Services were the targets of an investor alert by the Italian CONSOB;
- September 2015: MXTrade and Lau Global Services were the targets of an investor alert from Cyprus agency CySec;
- April 2016: The Belgian Financial Services Authority (FSMA) cautioned investors.
- Nov. 2016 saw the Australian regulator ASIC issue a warning to investors about MXTrade; Nov. 2016 saw the New Zealand regulator FMA issue a warning to investors about EXO Capital Markets Ltd. trading as Trade12;
- Nov. 2017 saw the Guernsey regulator issue a warning to investors about Exo Capital Markets Ltd. trading as Trade12;
- numerous other warnings regarding the various trading styles (domains/brands)
The Facebook page of Lau Global Service Corp is still accessible, even though the majority of the network’s illicit broker websites have since gone offline. It is purported that R Capital Solutions Limited, a financial services firm registered in Cyprus (HE329922) with licence number 246/14, approved and regulated by the Cyprus Securities Exchange Commission, was the previous owner and operator of the MXTrade brand. 2015 saw the alleged transfer of the MXTrade name and customer base to Lau Global Services. R Capital Solutions, however, disputes that it ever had any relationship with MXTrade in a corresponding statement:
R Capital Solution’s declaration about MXTrade
But from what I’ve read in a few forums, it appears that R Capital Solutions was working with MXTrader up to the middle of 2015. Emails obtained by Media appear to indicate that R Capital Solutions did, in fact, run MXTrader up to the middle of 2015.
Lau Global Services is also a shareholder in Grizzly Ltd., a Malta-based company that formerly operated payment services for such illicit and dishonest broker schemes, according to Offshore Leaks Database. This can be seen, for instance, on an old MTI Markets website. Shlomo Matan Shalom Avshalom, an Israeli, is listed as a director of Grizzly Ltd. Grizzly Ltd was involved in the “Lau” Scheme and possessed several illicit trading brands, according to various sources and forums.
The legal companies involved in illicit broker schemes typically make regular changes to deceive Google, law enforcement, and clients. In particular, the front shell firms that are usually run by “monkeys” are changing a lot.
Individuals Found in the Network
The individuals listed in the FSMSmart network include Mathew Bradley, Ali Mahmoudi, and Armin Ordodary, a resident of Cyprus who is purportedly a former Windsor Brokers employee. Born in January of 1991, Armin Ordodary has registered multiple forex trading domains during the years of 2013 and 2014. In addition, he serves as the director of Bythos Yachts Management OÜ in Estonia.
The well-established ties that Armin Ordodary
We are unable to determine at this time if Armin Ordodary was a lieutenant in Cyprus or one of the scheme’s masterminds. In actuality, we have managed to determine his affiliation with businesses, endeavours, and undertakings within the illicit brokering landscape. He has ties to both the Nepcore project and SIAO Ltd, a provider of FOREX services. Additionally, we are aware that he oversees the Upmarkt boiler room in Serbia, which provided services to FSM Smart. He offered marketing services for the “Lau Scheme’s illicit trading styles through Nepcore.
