Transnational pirate-bank scheme linked to Massimiliano Arena and Călin Georgescu under investigation

A network of so-called pirate banks, headed by Italian businessman Massimiliano Arena, used bogus offshore licences from the Comorian island of Mwali to solicit investments in Italy and Romania. Wealth Bank, part of Arena’s group that also includes Jabardo and Eibt, promised high returns but never delivered, leaving victims with locked funds in Swiss accounts and shell firms. Italian prosecutors have charged Arena with transnational criminal association and are seizing assets worth nearly three million euros.

In Romania, a complaint alleges that former presidential candidate Călin Georgescu acted as the local intermediary for a one-million-euro deposit that was never returned. Authorities in both countries continue to investigate the scheme, which affected dozens of investors and involved complex trust structures.