Associated Incidents
A woman told a court that she lost her entire life savings - over €53,000 - after falling victim to an online scam involving deepfake videos of Prime Minister Robert Abela.
The testimony came during the criminal proceedings against Kateryna Izotkina, a Ukrainian national who currently stands accused of money laundering, fraud, and participation in organised crime. Izotkina is pleading not guilty.
The victim of the scam said she first came across a deepfake video of Abela on Facebook on July 22, promoting an investment scheme. She highlighted how she also came across similar videos featuring other high-profile figures, including former Opposition leader Simon Busuttil, former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, all promoting the same scheme.
Intrigued, she clicked the link and submitted her phone number. Almost immediately, she received a call from a UK number and was encouraged to invest €250. Although her first attempt to transfer funds via her BNF account failed, the transaction went through via her HSBC account.
She was then introduced to a supposed financial advisor named "Maria Lipinski", who contacted her daily via Telegram.
According to the victim, she began using a platform called "Wealth Xpert," where she was shown false graphs indicating profits of around €30 a day. When she questioned the lower-than-expected returns, since the deepfake had promised €1,000 weekly, she was encouraged to invest €50,000.
She agreed to hand over €25,000 in cash. The woman said she met a courier at Żurrieq Square and handed over the money in a brown envelope.
No receipt was given and Lipinski claimed the funds were placed in a crypto wallet and she was shown apparent profits.
Later, she was instructed to buy bitcoin from a man named "Pablo" in Argentina. She was later informed that all funds had been frozen due to "financial insurance" concerns and was asked to pay an additional €30,000 to resolve the issue.
She managed to provide €16,000 and was told the rest would be covered by another client's funds. This led to further complications, with the scammers later claiming she needed to repay the €10,000 difference or risk losing everything. She raised another €12,000, which a Polish woman collected.
Another individual claiming to be from Euroclear Belgium threatened her with legal action for money laundering unless she paid €20,000 within five days.
At this point, she sought her daughter's assistance, who immediately recognised the scam, pointing out that the messages and emails appeared to have been generated using ChatGPT.
The pair reported the incident to the police, and the Financial Crimes Investigation Department (FCID) began investigating. Authorities advised the woman to continue interacting with the scammers to gather more evidence.
During a staged operation, the woman met Izotkina for a controlled delivery of €10,000 in counterfeit money prepared by police. Izotkina was arrested at the scene after accepting the package.
Shortly after the arrest, the woman received a threatening call from someone claiming to be Lipinski, who warned: "You'll be sorry for what you've done. We'll get her out in no time. We're not scammers."
"I paid a total of €53,250, practically all my life savings", the woman told the court.
Under cross examination, she confirmed that she never spoke to the financial advisor over a video call and that she did not have an understanding of trading or finance and that is why she trusted Lipinski to guide her.
The prosecution is being led by AG lawyer Marica Ciantar and Inspector Andy Rotin.
Defence lawyers Nicholai Bugeja and Alexander Boichuk are representing Izotkina.
The case is being presided over by Magistrate Rachel Montebello.