Portugal’s Judiciary Police apprehended a 39-year-old man as part of "Operation Jamon," a probe into international scams. Gonçalo Silva, who runs the Fraud Portugal website, believes the suspect is Ramon Alcantara, the alleged architect of the Evo Binary Ponzi scheme. The operation centers on accusations of operating a fraudulent financial scheme that promised investors a 27% return on investment.

Details emerging from the police investigation align closely with the methods employed by Evo Binary. The arrested individual is accused of orchestrating a scheme that preyed on individuals through promises of substantial financial gains. Authorities allege the operation was structured as a pyramid scheme, where new investors' capital was used to pay off earlier participants. This type of fraud, commonly known as a Ponzi scheme, relies on a continuous influx of new money to sustain itself.

Evo Binary, launched in 2016, purportedly offered returns of up to 27% on investments of €20,000 EUR, marketing itself as a forex trading operation. Ramon Alcantara, identified as the CEO, was reportedly based in Dubai during the scheme's operation. The ruse of forex trading masked the reality of the operation: no significant trading occurred, and payouts were funded by subsequent investors. The scheme collapsed around mid-2017, approximately a year after its inception.

The police statement describes a criminal plan targeting international victims with a pyramidal financial fraud. Investors were enticed by the prospect of high returns through software that supposedly monitored foreign exchange markets. A critical element of the scheme involved intermediaries who earned commissions based on recruiting new investors into their “teams.” Investigations revealed that no actual investment took place in foreign exchange markets; instead, partial payments were made using funds from new recruits.

Police assert that the bulk of the funds invested in Evo Binary were processed through Portuguese bank accounts. In addition to the arrest, authorities seized bank balances totaling approximately €3.5 million and a luxury property valued at over €500,000. If the detained individual is indeed Alcantara, his arrest comes almost four years after Evo Binary's collapse. The unidentified man remains in custody pending further official disclosures.