An 85-year-old Swiss woman also testified, who, according to her own statements, had invested more than a million euros in EXW but never got it back. The elderly woman was questioned via Zoom on Tuesday. In the presence of her lawyer, the woman explained that she had come across EXW through a homeopath, a former business partner. “She was a commission-based agent and said it was something that was very lucrative. She also had an employee in Austria.”
- Also read: EXW trial: Main defendant pleads guilty
A “dealer” in Austria eventually opened a crypto account for the witness, into which larger amounts of money were regularly deposited, a total of almost 1.2 million euros. According to the woman’s statement, this was linked to the assurance that she would receive 2.6 million euros. When this did not happen, she asked about the current status and was told by the “dealer” that the money had been “frozen”. She did not receive any payment or repayment, which is why she filed a complaint.
“That was not what I had in mind”
The 85-year-old said she did not know exactly how the EXW system worked: “You traded with the money, that was the only thing I knew.” For the main defendant, this statement was reason for an apology: “I am sorry that my system was exploited in such a way to defraud you.” And further: “It is catastrophic because she evidently did not know what she was doing. It was not my intention that it was used in this way.”
If someone paid into EXW knowing that the money could be lost, “then you can talk about it: He knew what he was doing. But if you really invest money at that age – she obviously didn’t know what she was doing.” That’s why he attached so much importance to informing investors about the risks, the main defendant defended himself. The brokers of the deal are to be questioned on another day of the trial.
Verdict expected at the end of July
The large-scale trial of the cryptocurrency company EXW has been underway at the Klagenfurt Regional Court since the end of September 2023. The eleven defendants are accused of serious commercial fraud, money laundering, pyramid schemes and criminal association. According to the indictment, they are said to have defrauded around 40,000 victims of at least 17.6 million euros, with total damages reportedly amounting to 100 million euros. As Judge Claudia Bandion-Ortner, the chair of the jury, said on Tuesday, a verdict is expected at the end of July.
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