The Lithuanian businessman claims to have suffered for an American billionaire detained in Vilnius: he transferred almost 700 thousand. euros

Owner of a specific fintech company (The name of the company and the identity of the owner are known to Delfi and can be provided to interested parties.) claims to have suffered significant damage as a result of its cooperation with Allied Wallet (AW), a company in liquidation in the UK, owned and operated by Mr Khawaja.

“AW was a company licensed by the UK Financial Supervisory Authority and approved member of Mastercard, offering a prepaid card service. To provide this service to our customers we had to maintain a positive balance in AW’s account to the replenishment. So the first orders were made in small quantities. The cards received worked, they were distributed to customers, “says the owner of the company operating in Lithuania.

The Lithuanian businessman explains that he believed that AW is a reliable partner, so he decided to use the services offered.

“In order to ensure the subsequent operation of the services provided, we placed larger orders, which amounted to almost 700 thousand. euros. However, immediately afterwards, AW announced that the replenishment account would be closed and the funds it contained would no longer be available. It turns out that our trust in AW was only necessary to embezzle a large amount of money, ”says the businessman.

He explains that he does not want to publicize his company name due to the possible negative impact on his reputation, but that it is important that he tell the story: there may be other victims of A. Khawaj or AW.

As proof of the allegations, it sent a copy of an extract of the complaint to the Attorney General’s Office, which bears the seal of the Attorney General marked “Received” on October 19. But this does not seem to be the first appeal, but a repeated “new circumstances”.

The manager also gave Delfi two copies of the payment orders indicating that in 2018. On August 2, 200 thousand were transferred to the Allied Wallet Ltd. EUR account, and on August 13 of that year, another 500 thousand . euros. It is claimed that the beneficiary’s account, Allied Wallet, was opened with Ceskoslovenska Obchodni Banka.

A. Khawaja, a citizen of the US and Lebanon, is famous for the fact that in 2016. He generously supported candidate Hillary Clinton during the US presidential elections. At the request of the United States, he was detained in Vilnius and arrested by court decision. The United States seeks the extradition of the director of Allied Wallet, a reputable electronic payments company suspected of financial crimes.

The Lithuanian judges who sentenced him to two months in detention found that an investigation was underway in the United States into suspect Khawaja’s large-scale plan in 2017-2018 to transfer millions of dollars in illegal and over-the-counter contributions. electoral campaigns, including money from a foreign government. until 2016 US Presidential Elections and Other US Political Committees The United States also issued an arrest warrant in a criminal case and the country’s Justice Department on August 27. requested the temporary detention of Mr. Khawaj pending a decision on his extradition. Delfi wrote more about the arrest.

Mr. Khawaja was reportedly later released on bail.

Made a solid impression

The manager says that the aforementioned Lithuanian fintech company wanted to expand the range of services provided a few years ago and was looking for a reliable partner. So he took on Allied Wallet.

AW has a financial institution license issued by the UK supervisory authorities since February 2014 and has also been approved as a Mastercard member. A lot of information about A. Khawaja, the owner and manager of Allied Wallet, can still be found on the internet, including photos from the covers of well-known business magazines with the image of A. Khawaja, ”says the owner of the fintech company.

According to him, such circumstances did not call into question the reliability of Allied Wallet. So the cooperation began with a “test” of services: the transfer of several tens of thousands. As the services ran smoothly for more than a month to ensure their continued operation, the company placed larger orders.

However, as soon as they received the larger sums, Allied Wallet blocked access to almost 700,000 euros and never returned them ”, explains the businessman.

In May 2019, the US Federal Trade Commission publicly announced that Allied Wallet, a company founded by A. Khawa, had allegedly processed fraudulent payment transactions, filed complaints of participation in fraudulent schemes; the company allegedly assisted in conducting money transactions for illegal clients. The US Federal Trade Commission allocated $ 110 million. Khawaja, your Allied Wallet and GTBill.

Shortly thereafter, in the United Kingdom, the Financial Conduct Authority deprived the company of the right to carry out any regulated activity or the funds at its disposal, and its liquidators were appointed.

Even in Lithuania, A. Khawaja previously presented himself as an “example of the American dream”. Invited to the Lithuanian World Youth Gathering as a speaker to share the success story, the website said: “A Lebanese-born businessman started life in the United States with just over $ 20 in his pocket. After working in fast food outlets and supermarkets, Andy now runs the innovative electronic payments company Allied Wallet, which helped consumers order more than $ 55 billion online in 2013. ”

Khawaja is portrayed in public as a billionaire, but he’s not on popular billionaire lists, like Forbes.

Bankruptcy administrators do not track fund owners

Representatives of BDO LLP have been appointed liquidators of the sanctioned Allied Wallet in the UK. In their letters, which were also sent to the Lithuanian company, they claim that they cannot trace who owned the funds at the disposal of Allied Wallet.

“Although the liquidators have acknowledged that they acknowledge the receipts we have submitted, they state that it can be extremely difficult to recover the lost funds. They claim that it is not possible to trace the owners of the funds at least for the time being, because Allied Wallet has mixed the funds of customers with those of the company itself ”, the Lithuanian businessman quotes the letters.

In a letter, the copy of which is also in Delfi’s possession, the liquidators told the Lithuanian company that Allied Wallet managed a large number of bank accounts in various institutions and that it seemed quite common to regularly close accounts and open new ones, transferring balances accordingly. The liquidators explain that the UK authorities imposed sanctions on Allied Wallet for mixing customers’ money, and figuring out how much a customer had was a difficult task.

The first letter from BDO LLP to the Lithuanian company states that all necessary steps are being taken to access Allied Wallet records. However, in a subsequent letter, the liquidators stated that the electronic money institution should return the money in the event of insolvency, but that Allied Wallet did not adequately protect the funds and mixed them with company money, and the liquidators still had access. limited to Allied Wallet electronic records.

He also established a business in Lithuania.

Businessman A. Khawaja, detained in Vilnius in early September, has close ties with Lithuania. Vilija Viešūnaitė, a lawyer representing A. Khawaja, has stated that the businessman has a residence permit in Lithuania, his wife and minor son are Lithuanian citizens. A. Khawaja also owns real estate in Lithuania, where he regularly resided for many years prior to his arrest.

A. Khawaja also had a business in Lithuania. According to the data from the Registry Center, in 2007 In Lithuania, established the BalticBill company and managed it until 2019. February. 2019 In the early 1990s, the shares and management of the company were transferred to Mr. Khawaja.

However, the company remained in contact with Khawaja’s UK-licensed Allied Wallet in 2019. In January, BalticBill was added to the Allied Wallet continuation agent roster. Agent status generally entitles you to sell Allied Wallet services in the UK or other countries in the European Economic Area.

“After sanctions were imposed on Khawaja companies in the United States and the United Kingdom, Allied Wallet distributed a letter to our customers, which we also received. It announces that all rights and obligations of Allied Wallet will be assumed by BalticBill, which will jointly provide the same payment services. However, the statements made in this letter had little to do with reality, as we have not yet recovered any funds that Allied Wallet has misappropriated, “said the owner of the technology company. financial

BalticBill, established in Lithuania, does not have licenses to provide payment services.

Neither Khawaja himself nor the institutions comment

“I do not have the client’s consent to comment, so I cannot comment. I have to apologize, I cannot comment on anything because he did not allow it. He simply said that he did not want to make any comment at the moment,” reported Vilija Viešūnaitė, a lawyer from Triniti representing A. Khawahai.

The Attorney General’s Office did not rule on this issue.

“I’m sorry, but the prosecution does not comment or provide any information on the request of persons (natural or legal), or on the fact of the request itself, or on the essence or details of said request, to third parties. That information only it can be provided by the person who requested it if they so wish, ”said Elena Martinonienė, Head of the Communication Division of the Attorney General’s Office.

The Bank of Lithuania replied that no complaints or inquiries had been received about A. Khawaja or Allied Wallet.

“The Bank of Lithuania has not issued or issued any licenses or operating permits to Allied Wallet, and Ahmad Khawaja has not been included in the Bank of Lithuania’s assessments of managers and shareholders of supervised financial market participants. “Allied Wallet Limited is licensed as an electronic money institution in the UK, but has been suspended by the UK Financial Market Authority,” the comment said.