CryptoSpain / Álvaro Romillo / Madeira Invest Club
Summary
Álvaro Romillo Castillo, a Spanish crypto influencer operating under the alias 'CryptoSpain,' was arrested on November 6, 2025, and detained without bail by Spain's National Court on charges of fraud, money laundering, and participation in a criminal organization. Romillo is alleged to have operated Madeira Invest Club (MIC), a Ponzi scheme that Spanish authorities say defrauded over 3,000 investors of approximately €260 million (roughly $300 million) between early 2023 and September 2024 by falsely promising annual returns of up to 53% through purported investments in luxury assets and cryptocurrencies. The case, conducted under Operation PONEI with support from Europol and law enforcement agencies in the US, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, is considered Spain's largest crypto influencer fraud.
Connected Entities
1 entities · 10 linked investigationsTimeline(9 events)
2023-01
Madeira Invest Club launches, marketing investment contracts in luxury goods, digital artwork, and crypto with claimed annual returns of 20–53%.
CoinDesk / Brave New Coin2023-05-22
Spain's CNMV and Belgium's FSMA issue concurrent warnings that Madeira Invest Club and its linked entity Proelucyon LLC are operating as unauthorized collective investment institutions.
CNMV Official Warning / FSMA Official Warning2024-05-27
Romillo allegedly delivers €100,000 in unreported cash to far-right European Parliament candidate Luis 'Alvise' Pérez, days before EU parliamentary elections.
Euronews / BeInCrypto2024-06
Two MIC-linked companies ('Wortned' and 'Wortonova') are registered in Tirana, Albania, expanding the scheme's corporate network.
VoxNews Albania2024-09-17
Madeira Invest Club abruptly ceases operations; its websites go offline and social media accounts are cleared of content, leaving investors unable to recover funds.
Born2Invest / RussSpain2024-10
Multiple victim complaints filed with Spanish authorities; formal investigation into MIC begins in late 2024.
Brave New Coin2025-08
Armed members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang break into Romillo's home in San Sebastián de los Reyes, holding him and his partner for approximately five hours and stealing an estimated €3 million in cryptocurrency, cash, and jewelry.
Telecinco2025-11-06
Álvaro Romillo Castillo arrested by Spain's Civil Guard under Operation PONEI following confirmation of a €29 million Singapore bank account linked to his corporate network.
CoinDesk / The Block2025-11-07
National Court judge José Luis Calama orders Romillo held without bail, citing flight risk, after a two-hour hearing during which Romillo's claim to have repaid thousands of investors could not be documented.
Yahoo Finance / CryptoNewsDecision Log
- hash: G49YAVnj1DG6Tg1aacYWBLTet6qYmDf8Gh1LmYfE56A8
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain and source URLs are archived via the Internet Archive.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 5/31/2026, 7:18:55 AM
last updated: 5/31/2026, 7:19:47 AM
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