26 million kroner may be lost in a controversial trade in Russian aviation fuel. The small investors are furious at Johansen for the millions they have invested. – We will get our money back. Johansen will then feed them. We are talking about millions, says one of the leading small investors to news. He wants to remain anonymous. – It’s embarrassing to shit like that. I do not want to look like a clown for the whole of Oslo. news has previously written about the small investors who were lured into the trade in Russian aviation fuel. The investment should provide an adventurous return in a short time. Now the money is gone. The last trace of the millions are corridors with empty cardboard boxes and folding chairs in Hong Kong. The small investors’ money was, among other things, sent to the company Bins trade. They are listed in this office in the Goldfield Industrial Building in Hong Kong. The small investors entered the trade through the businessman Allan Johansen. Allan Johansen was in contact with the Port of Rotterdam in the spring of 2020. This photo was taken in 2008. Photo: Erik, Brenli Now news can reveal that Johansen in April 2020 was warned that the scheme could be a scam. Nevertheless, six months later he chose to include Norwegian small investors in the agreement. My colleagues are convinced that this is a ‘scam’. I’m sorry.” The port authority in Rotterdam, Port of Rotterdam, wrote this to Johansen. The company manages the port, which is Europe’s largest. Stands on his Background for the e-mail exchange between Johansen and Port of Rotterdam, were questions from Johansen about the company JV Dooren. This company was allegedly responsible for the tanks where the aviation fuel was to be stored in Rotterdam. “The reason I called was that we are suspicious of JV Dooren and how serious they are,” Johansen wrote to the harbor. Photo: Screenshot e-mail The port replied that they did not know the company JV Dooren. They pointed out that the area in which the company allegedly belonged belonged to another company. Port of Rotterdam confirms to news that they came with this warning to Johansen. – At the time we responded, we were convinced that this was a scam. A description of information about the existing terminals at our port, you can find in the brochure on our website, writes Nicole Stiemer, who is employed in the port administration, to news. In the brochure from the harbor, there is no trace of JV Dooren. news has asked the Port of Rotterdam if they today insist that this is a scam. They have not responded to this. There has been a lot of communication with the port after the emails at the beginning of April 2020, Johansen says to news. – The documentation I have, cancels the information news has, he claims. The website from Moscow He refers to an e-mail from 29 September 2020. It states that JV Dooren BV is registered in the Port of Rotterdam database. It also states that the trade in aviation fuel is registered with the port. The email addresses from internalportofrotterdam no longer work. Photo: Screenshot news’s investigations, however, reveal that the e-mail Johansen refers to does not come from the Port of Rotterdam’s official e-mail address. The domain “internalportofrotterdam” was registered in Moscow. The email address behind the domain is linked to a website that also contains warnings about several types of Russian oil scams. Information also emerges about another mysterious tank farm. Several clues point to Russia and Moscow: When the Norwegian small investors joined the trade, they could go to JV Dooren’s website. This website was also registered in Moscow, news’s surveys show. The contact information on JV Dooren’s website did not work when news sent e-mails and called the numbers on the website. Photo: Screenshot news has not received a response from the domain owners. In the building in the middle, the domain of JV Dooren’s website is registered under the name Ramez Baassiri. Photo: Screenshot Google Maps The Russian giant The arrows against Russia do not stop here. Before they spat in the money, the small investors also got to visit Johansen’s turquoise functional villa with a fjord view. There they saw documents that were to show that the trade was serious. Several of the documents were from the Russian oil giant Lukoil. They were listed as a producer of aviation fuel that small investors could invest in. The documents contained assurances that the trade was serious. In addition, the Russian Ministry of Energy should have approved the agreement. There is only one problem: Lukoil makes all sales through its own subsidiary, LITASCO, according to their own website. On the website, Lukoil has a large number of examples of documents that they warn about being used in fraud. Several of the documents used in the trade with the Norwegian investors are very similar to the ones Lukoil warns about. Lukoil is listed as a producer of aviation fuel for which Norwegian small investors paid millions. This photo was taken in Brussels Photo: KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / AFP Lukoil has not responded to news’s inquiries. – Incredibly convincing The documents from Lukoil were not the only ones to reassure investors. They also heard about Johansen’s other projects. They were to secure the small investors’ money, if something went wrong, says one investor to news. – He was incredibly convincing. Then we thought that the money we invested was at least safe. Johansen has not answered questions about whether this is true. The small investors paid the money into a company, where Allan Johansen has had various roles. Money was then sent to companies in Hong Kong. The money was paid, but the winnings did not come. Instead, there were postponements. With the postponement came a penalty fee, the investor tells news. So now they needed more money for the alleged trade, documents show news has received. A non-payment by Russia stopped the trade, the Norwegian investors were informed in the spring of 2021. Photo: Screenshot The man in Canada When news asks Johansen for a comment that the e-mail that was allegedly from the Port of Rotterdam, came from a Russian domain, he points to Sabri El Doraini. El Doraini is listed as the general manager of the company Global Spectrum Energy from Montreal in Canada. It is the company that is listed as selling the aviation fuel. Johansen says he is only an intermediary between the investors and Global Spectrum Energy. – Spectrum, with Sabri, is very involved, Johansen claims. He says that the Norwegian small investors have received correct information in the trade, and that he has not deceived anyone. – All investors have had direct contact with Spectrum, and they have received all the answers they requested, says Johansen. news has long tried to get in touch with El Doraini. He does not have a professional email address. He signed the alleged million-dollar deal with his Gmail address. news calls El Doraini’s private telephone number. The person at the other end is silent for a few seconds. Then the person says that El Doraini is not there now. The next day, news calls El Doraini several times and leaves a message with a request for a reply. All three phone numbers we have called from are blocked. Johansen forwarded after this an e-mail signed by El Doraini. It says that the case is being investigated by Spectrum. “Spectrum’s management will not cooperate with news’s investigation, as they have accused our main investor, Allan Johansen, of being fraudulent.” In one of the documents the Norwegian small investors received, Allan Johansen was listed as operations director (COO) in Spectrum. – Spectrum offered me to be their COO, but I refused, Johansen has previously stated to news. If the money is lost, he is also a victim, just like the small investors, Johansen says. Ecocrime: – The classic features At the moment, the phone calls Ecocrime often. State Attorney Anne Glede Allum in Økokrim says that they receive inquiries daily from people who have invested, but have not received their money back. – They wonder if they have been deceived, she says. State Attorney at Økokrim Anne Glede Allum says that they often receive inquiries about investment fraud. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB Allum says she can not comment on the case of aviation fuel and the Norwegian small investors, but on a general basis she says that it is not unique. – This case has many of the classic characteristics of investment fraud. In a classic investment fraud, according to Allum, you get a very good offer of a very large gain in a short time. Just before payment is to be made, you are informed that a problem has arisen, and that you must pay down an additional amount. In the end, you do not get anything. Then you will be contacted a third time by someone who will help get your money back if you pay a sum. Then you lose the last amount as well. From January to April this year, there have been reports of cases where more than NOK 25 million has disappeared from Norway due to investment fraud, according to Allum. Those who recruit people to invest can be an acquaintance or a friend, but it can also happen through a link found on a website. – Have Norwegians become more naive? – People have been cheated in all years, but the fraudsters reach more now because of the internet. They combine digital methods with social manipulation, where over time they create a relationship of trust with the person who is eventually deceived. Can not explain what has happened The small investors have been waiting for their money all winter and spring. Will the money flourish in the account or will hope fade forever? Allan Johansen does not give a clear answer to that. – In retrospect, do you now regret that many millions are gone? – We do not know that the money is gone. In retrospect, when we know that it is as it is, we wonder why it is so. That is what we run and investigate, because there are quite a few involved, says Johansen. A news employee is among those who have paid money into the trade. The person in question has not been involved in the work on this case.
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He was warned about fraud – then he recruited Norwegian investors – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
