Capital Solutions Scam Exposed (2024)

As part of our focus on “Boiler Rooms,” we recently released a Request 4 Information on the Maltese operator Capital Solutions Ltd. More information from partners and whistleblowers reached us fairly fast. We find Gennaro Lanza’s persona to be very intriguing. After Italo Mainolfi and Massimiliano Moroni, his Italian co-founders, sold him their interests, he is now the only beneficial owner still alive. Lanza has connections to a number of offshore brokers, including DB Investing, NewFX, and Dubai FXM. It appears that he is running a sizable unlicensed financial enterprise in Malta.

The proprietor of Capital Solutions

Through Big Horizons Ltd, a Seychelles-registered company, the founding shareholders of Capital Solutions Ltd., Italo Mainolfi, Massimiliano Moroni, and Gennaro Lanza, held their shares.

By the end of 2020, Mainofli and Moroni had sold their shares to Invest Group Global Ltd, a Seychelles-registered company, and had resigned from their positions as directors of Capital Solutions. Gennaro Lanza, Capital Solutions’ only director, is in charge of this offshore organisation. 99.5% of the company’s shares are presently held by Invest Group Global Ltd, according to the Maltese companies register. Alpin Sha, an Indian and the corporate secretary, owns the remaining 0.05%.

Brokers who operate offshore and con artists

NewFX with Big Horizons Ltd. and DB Invest with DBInvesting  

Gennaro Lanza is the proprietor and trademark holder of the unregulated offshore broker NewFX (www.newfx.co), which is owned by Big Horizons Ltd, the former holding company of Capital Solutions Ltd. The FSA Seychelles has granted the latter permission to serve as CEO at DB Invest Ltd (screenshot left). This person runs DB Investing, an offshore broker, which can be found at www.dbinvesting.com.

Up until its dissolution in February 2020, Dupay LP (previously Dubai FXM LP), which was a member of the corporate network surrounding the now-deleted Dubai FXM frauds (www.dubaifxm.com), was also controlled by Gennaro Lanza. This UK entity’s registered partners have been DIFC Dubai FXM Limited and Dubai FXM Limited, both of which are regulated by the VFSC and registered in Vanuatu.

The Italian regulator Consob ordered the suspension of Dubai FXM’s websites in March 2020, after the Spanish CNMV issued a warning against Dubai FXM domains in April 2019. The offshore broker disappeared shortly after that.

The link with Cyprus

Lanza’s businesses and interests extend beyond Malta. Along with being a part of DIFC Limited, he is also active in Cyprus. Before 2021, Belight Capital Group Ltd. was an investment entity governed by the CySEC.

Up until the end of 2020, DBinvesting Limited, an offshore branch of Belight Capital Group Ltd., which was then subject to CySEC regulation, managed Lanza’s DB investing. A warning against DBFX Trades (www.dbfxtrades.com), another offshore broker of the investment firm registered by CySEC, was issued by the Spanish regulator CNMV in July 2020.

The history of ZP Services

Gennaro Lanza was sued by ZP Services Ltd for allegedly quitting the company early and taking clients and staff with him to Capital Solutions Ltd. They are still at odds. The next court date is set for December 2021.

Cyprus

Cyprus is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and Council of Europe in addition to the majority of UN institutions. The nation has also ratified the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency Agreement (MIGA) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Cyprus joined the European Union in 2004 and served as its president of the Council of the European Union during the latter part of 2012.

Malta

Situated in the Mediterranean Sea, Malta is an island nation in Southern Europe that goes by the name Republic of Malta. It is made up of an archipelago that lies between Libya and Italy. It is located 333 km (207 mi) north of Libya, 284 km (176 mi) east of Tunisia, and 80 km (50 mi) south of Sicily, Italy. The capital city of Malta is Valletta, and the official languages are Maltese and English.

Malta, with 316 km 2 (122 sq mi) of land and a population of over 519,000[8], is the tenth-smallest country in terms of territory but the fifth most densely inhabited sovereign nation. By both population and area, Valletta, the nation’s capital, is the smallest in the European Union. The Functional Urban Area and metropolitan region encompassed the entire island and had 480,134 people living there, according to Eurostat data from 2020. The EU Commission, ESPON, and the UN all state that “the entire territory of Malta constitutes a single urban region.” More and more people are referring to Malta as a city-state.

Offshore Brokerage Account

An offshore brokerage account is a type of financial account that is kept in a foreign nation by an individual or company, usually with advantageous financial and regulatory terms. Investing in different financial products including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other assets is the main usage for these accounts.

Usually, it is you who starts the process of opening an account with a brokerage company. You will be able to trade and swap different kinds of investment assets at your own discretion as soon as you fund this account, either with cash or credit.

What an offshore brokerage account is for

While offshore brokerage accounts have many uses, the following are some typical ones:

trading, owning, and investing in stocks, bonds, currency, securities, and other financial products; carrying out a variety of adaptable transactions using various accounts;

taking advantage of tax benefits brought about by the offshore status;

Essentially, you can manage your investments abroad using an offshore brokerage account, possibly taking advantage of a variety of investment opportunities and advantageous tax conditions.

Wind-Up- How to Protect Yourself from Investment Fraud

1. Make inquiries. Con artists rely on you not doing any research before making an investment. Do your own digging to repel them. Requesting references or further information is insufficient since con artists have no motivation to provide it. Spend some time conducting independent research on your own.
2. Do your homework before making a purchase. You should never base your financial decisions exclusively on unsolicited emails, message board posts, or corporate news releases. Before making an investment, become familiar with a company’s operations and offerings. Search the EDGAR filing system of the SEC for the company’s financial statements.
3. Get to know the salesman. Even if you already know the individual socially, take some time to investigate the person promoting the investment before making a purchase. Whenever someone contacts you about selling securities, make sure to find out if they are licensed to do so in your state and if their firms have ever had any issues with authorities or other investors. The SEC and FINRA internet databases allow you to view the disciplinary history of brokers and advisors at no cost.
4. Avoid accepting unwanted offers.If a firm is being praised online or you receive an unsolicited pitch to invest in it, exercise extra caution if you are unable to locate reliable, up-to-date financial information about it. A “pump and dump” scheme might be involved. If someone suggests investing overseas or “off-shore,” proceed with caution. It is more difficult to track down foreign money transfers and determine what went wrong if something goes wrong.
5. Be safe when using the internet. Social media and internet marketing platforms present a plethora of opportunities for scammers. Check out Protect Your Social Media Accounts for advice on staying safe online.
6. Recognize what to look for. Learn about the many forms of fraud as well as the warning signs that could point to investment fraud.

Capital Solutions Scam Exposed (2024)