French authorities have placed a woman under formal investigation for alleged organized fraud, aggravated laundering of tax-fraud proceeds and criminal conspiracy linked to suspected manipulation of the Verasity (VRA) token. According to Le Monde, the Russian-born French citizen identified as Svetlana A. was arrested in July in the Alpes-Maritimes and later detained following action by a Paris investigating judge. Investigators are examining whether alleged VRA exchange-rate manipulation helped finance more than €50 million in Dubai property purchases during 2022, covering roughly 100 apartments and three luxury villas.
The VRA token launched in 2018 and rose about 65-fold during spring 2021 before reversing sharply, later reaching an all-time high of $0.08621 on October 31, 2021, according to CoinGecko data. Public patent records name Svetlana Astakhova and Robert James Mark Hain as inventors on Verasity-related technology, while UK corporate filings link Astakhova to Veraviews Limited before a 2023 share transfer to Verasity Limited S.R.L. Svetlana A. denies wrongdoing, and her former lawyer has said there was no link between her property assets and Verasity activities.
In Japan, police arrested 31-year-old Saki Okayama and 38-year-old Mitsuki Minamisawa on suspicion of assisting a fake police fraud group that stole cryptocurrency worth approximately 81 million yen, or about $515,000, from a woman in her 40s. FNN reported on September 25 that investigators believe the group operated from Cambodia and impersonated Japanese police officers, telling the victim her bank card had been linked to a large money laundering investigation and that she needed to prove her innocence. Known losses from fraud cases involving the two suspects have reached roughly 240 million yen, and police suspect a Chinese national directed the operation from overseas.
Japan's National Police Agency said fake police scams caused 61.71 billion yen in losses during the first seven months of 2026, with 5,422 recorded cases. Although the number of cases fell 6.4% year over year, financial losses increased 25.7%. Total special-fraud losses reached 210.81 billion yen through July, up 42.9% from a year earlier. Authorities have asked exchanges to consider withdrawal delays and stronger checks on newly registered wallet addresses as cryptocurrency becomes more embedded in fraud flows.
