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Spain’s top criminal court has opened a fraud investigation into a medicinal cannabis investment platform which allegedly swindled people around the world of millions of euros.
Established in 2020, JuicyFields offered investors – who it called “e-growers” – the chance to profit from the cultivation, harvesting and sale of legal cannabis plants, promising returns of up to 66 percent.
But the Amsterdam-based company suddenly stopped operations in mid-July, froze cash withdrawals and vanished from the internet, investors allege.
The Spanish National Court opened its probe into JuicyFields on September 15 after a lawsuit filed by nearly 1,200 investors in July, a court document seen by AFP on Thursday showed.
Losses of up to €200,000
The class action lawsuit accuses JuicyFields of operating like a Ponzi scheme, in which early investors are paid out of deposits made by later investors.
It estimates that there are nearly 4,500 victims in Spain alone, who each lost an average of €6,500. Some individuals lost as much as €200,000.
The minimum investment was €50, and the money could be deposited and withdrawn via bank transfer or cryptocurrencies.
The company sought to impress investors by hiring social media influencers and displaying luxury cars at trade shows as a sign of its success.
At its…
