Former EU commissioner involved in suspected crypto Ponzi scheme

John Dalli, former Maltese finance minister and former EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, has deep ties to a suspected Ponzi scheme that involves a crypto operation known as QuickX.

The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) recently warned the public it was “likely to be a scheme of dubious nature with a high risk of loss of money.” While the authority didn’t mention Dalli, he’s involved “in no small way,” The Shift reports.

According to the outlet, QuickX is a Ponzi scheme in which Dalli is an ‘advisory board member’ — and its company address is the same as Dalli’s business address. Conservative estimates by the Shift indicate millions of US dollars belonging to investors have been lost.

Dalli is no stranger to scandal — the former EU commissioner was charged with influence trading in 2012 and resigned from his post following an investigation by the EU’s anti-fraud office. This year, Dalli pleaded not guilty to charges of bribery.

Dalli involved in copycat crypto Ponzis

QuickX was launched in 2018 by Indian brothers Vaibhav Adhlakha and Kshitij Adhlakha. Dalli’s “backing” was used in promotional material to suggest that QuickX would have “unequalled access to government regulators — minimising regulatory uncertainty for the company.”

Dalli helped the brothers to broker deals in Malta with big names, such as then MFSA Board of Governors member Mario Borg.

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• QuickX became a Maltese company, QuickX Ltd., shortly after the meeting.
• Six months later, it was operating an unlicensed crypto exchange called CNexchange in Malta.
• According to The Shift, QuickX Ltd. has never filed financial documents since its inception.

Dalli was first embroiled in dodgy crypto scams prior to QuickX through a project called Genius Capital Markets Ltd. (GenArb), a suspected Ponzi scheme registered in Vanuatu. 

The former Maltese finance minister promoted the project in Singapore in 2017, which promised returns of 5% to 7% every 10 days if an investor was able to bring in three more investors.

GenArb appears to have stopped returning client phone calls in the summer of 2017, according to complaints on review websites. However, GenArb’s website copy is almost identical to QuickX — and new projects named Eazme and Riseoo.

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