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EXCLUSIVE Liquidators in Ponzi scheme target Russian fraudster’s expat wife in Alicante

By Walter Finch

LIQUIDATORS attempting to recover €40 million missing in a giant crypto fraud are zeroing in on the expat wife of one of the chief suspects.

Gibraltar courts are trying to pin down Alicante resident Alla Babenko, 35, who is married to Globix executive Pavel Sidorov.

The Russian is now the subject of a disclosure order and will face public examination over her role in moving the unaccounted millions. Babenko claims she was kidnapped outside her El Campello villa by a gang of investors who her husband had allegedly ripped off via a giant Ponzi scheme.

Four individuals posing as police - including one female Russian acting as translator - allegedly attempted to seize Globix crypto accounts which had been put in Babenko’s name.

Yet somehow Sidorov managed to contact his lawyer, who alerted the po lice and the June 2022 kidnap at tempt was thwart ed with all four ar rested.

Judge Yeats grant ed the disclosure order against Babenko during a hearing in the Gibrlatar Supreme Court in which Globix bosses Damian Carreras and Sidorov finally made an appearance by video link. Carreras, 39, allegedly funnelled tens of millions in investors’ cash to his business partner’s wife. According to prosecutor Daniel Feetham KC, the shady manoeuvre has made Babenko ‘a key player’ in efforts to trace the missing millions. She has been given seven days to respond to the order or be held in contempt of court. If she fails to comply, lawyers in Madrid will open proceedings in Spain, while liquidators are also working with a legal firm in Moscow, should

WANTED: Alla Babenko in the aftermath of her kidnapping they try to flee to Russia.

Gibraltarian Carreras is hiding out in Barcelona ‘afraid for his life’ after reportedly being ‘dangled by his ankles’ over a ledge in order to return the money. It was the kidnap attempt that first alerted Spanish authorities that something was amiss with Globix. Dozens of key establishment figures in Gibraltar, including the leader of the opposition and a former chief minister, have been controversially stung in the fraud.

A BRITISH expat has been jailed for 15 years for child abuse back in the UK.

The Algorfa resident was found guilty of sexually abusing an English girl for over a decade.

Robert Giles, 76, was convicted at Bristol Crown Court after pleading guilty.

A European Investigation Order led to a search of his Costa Blanca home and the seizure of computers and phones with child pornography. Investigating officer DC Hannah Skelding was delighted with the sentence.

“Giles is a dangerous offender who is now off the streets and can no longer harm anyone else,” she insisted.