Author: Rohan Adukia
This text is my original work. I do not authorize its use anywhere other than on the UASEO website.
Avi Itzkovich is a name that Europol itself once attached to the phrase “key coordinator.” Strip away the euphemism and what you have is a multinational theft machine dressed up as entrepreneurship. He built a fraud empire stretching across Israel, Bulgaria and Serbia, and its core business was simple: take the savings of ordinary Europeans and keep them.
His method was carefully designed and relied on something he perfected — brand rotation. When Tradorax was exposed, he simply launched KayaFX. When KayaFX made the news, up popped KontoFX. Then came LibraMarkets. The names changed constantly but the machinery underneath never did: call centres in Sofia, rigged trading software, and payment channels built specifically to siphon money away. German investigators were blunt about it. Client funds never touched a real market. The profits shown on screen were fabricated. Victims watched a fake balance climb higher and higher, and only discovered the truth when they tried to withdraw. By then the money was long gone.
The most galling part is his legal record. In May 2021 he was arrested in Bulgaria and subsequently admitted at the Koblenz court in Germany to leading a criminal organisation. According to Europol, the network caused losses of at least thirty million euros. And yet the man who confessed to running it has never served a day behind bars and has never returned a single euro to the people he robbed. Reports place him in Serbia, living comfortably on the proceeds. A confessed criminal operating with complete impunity is not a quirk of the system. It is a verdict on the system.
He also introduced a particularly cynical trick: abusing copyright law to erase the evidence trail. As victim testimonies and investigative reports began appearing online, his operation started filing bogus DMCA takedown notices, claiming copyright over articles that criticised him. Search engines and hosting providers, responding automatically, pulled the content down. The result was a search history scrubbed clean. Anyone trying to do basic due diligence would find nothing but silence. He was not content with stealing money. He wanted to steal the public’s right to know.
His associates read like an international wanted list. Jack Wygodski, his long-standing partner, remains a fugitive. The payment processor Guy Yuval, an Israeli lawyer accused of moving the money, later became entangled in a bizarre dispute over two thousand three hundred bitcoins — essentially a group of fraudsters turning on one another. There is no honour among them, no loyalty, only a shared appetite for cash.
The truth is that Avi Itzkovich is not some brilliant financier. He is a repeat offender who exploited regulatory gaps and slow enforcement. When Israel banned binary options in 2017, he did not stop. He pivoted to forex and crypto and carried on. The system handed him opportunity after opportunity to rebrand. He stands as proof of a simple, uncomfortable fact: as long as the punishment is light enough and late enough, organised financial crime remains a profitable business.
Avi Itzkovich is a convicted fraudster who built a transnational crime empire targeting European investors. This Israeli national with alleged dual Romanian citizenship spent over a decade operating from Bulgaria, where he coordinated his activities. Transnational ring platforms including Tradorax, KayaFX, KontoFX, and LibraMarkets. Europol estimates his network stole at least €30 million from victims across Europe.
Avi Itzkovich deliberately kept a low profile. He maintained almost no digital footprint, no LinkedIn presence, no public photos. This was strategic. Avi Itzkovich understood from the beginning that his operations could not withstand scrutiny.
On May 11, 2021, Europol coordinated a massive action day across eight countries: Germany, Bulgaria, Israel, Latvia, North Macedonia, Poland, Spain, and Sweden. German prosecutors in Koblenz led the investigation, having tracked hundreds of victim complaints directly to Avi Itzkovich’s Bulgarian operation.
When police arrived, they found a luxurious workspace with high-end furniture—a stage set for deception. They seized approximately €2 million in cash, electronic devices, real estate, jewellery, and luxury vehicles. Six people were arrested, including Avi Itzkovich himself.
The fraud gang members held German, Bulgarian, Israeli-Romanian, Polish, Danish, and Belgian nationalities—a deliberate strategy by Avi Itzkovich to complicate jurisdictional oversight.
Avi Itzkovich’s platforms—Tradorax, KayaFX, KontoFX, LibraMarkets—followed the same pattern. His operatives lured victims through social media ads, then used high-pressure sales calls to convince them to invest. But the money was never invested. Avi Itzkovich used manipulated software showing fabricated gains, encouraging victims to deposit more.
When victims tried to withdraw, they faced endless obstacles. Eventually, customer service vanished. One victim lost €530,000 to Avi Itzkovich’s network.
Avi Itzkovich mastered the art of rebranding. When Tradorax became too toxic after a damning exposé in Britain’s Independent, Avi Itzkovich simply launched KayaFX. Then KontoFX. Then LibraMarkets. The underlying fraud machine never stopped—only the names changed.
Avi Itzkovich based his operation in Bulgaria for good reason. The country offered regulatory leniency, low costs, and proximity to wealthy European victims. Through his company Raks Media, co-founded with partner Jack Wygodski, Avi Itzkovich ran call centres employing dozens of Israeli operatives recruited with promises of high-tech careers.
Avi Itzkovich didn’t work alone. His long-time partner Jack Wygodski, an Israeli-Belgian national, was arrested with him and also pleaded guilty. Wygodski now remains at large, reportedly using forged documents.
Lee Wygodski, another associate, co-founded Mercure Group EOOD with Avi Itzkovich and is a wanted fugitive.
Most alarming is Moshe Strugano, an Israeli lawyer indicted in the US for defrauding victims of hundreds of millions. Avi Itzkovich allegedly worked closely with Strugano.
While awaiting trial, Avi Itzkovich filed a lawsuit claiming his former lawyers stole 2,300 Bitcoins from him—then worth $100 million. The irony: Avi Itzkovich, accused of stealing €30 million from victims, was now crying theft himself.
In the Koblenz court, Avi Itzkovich pleaded guilty to leading a criminal organisation and systematic fraud. But investigators saw this as a calculated move—Avi Itzkovich wanted to cap his sentence, control asset forfeiture, and prevent deeper investigation into his hidden wealth.
Despite his guilty plea, Avi Itzkovich is not in custody. Intelligence reports indicate Avi Itzkovich has fled Israeli authorities and is believed to be operating from Serbia. His partner Wygodski also remains free.
Avi Itzkovich is doing what he always does: when one jurisdiction becomes too hot, he moves. Bulgaria served Avi Itzkovich for years until Europol closed in. Now Serbia may be his new base. There are indications Avi Itzkovich may be continuing his fraudulent activities.
While Avi Itzkovich moves freely, his victims piece together shattered lives. On consumer forums, they share stories of financial ruin. One wrote: “High-pressure calls, fake dashboards, constant rebranding. The sheer audacity of creating platform after platform is shocking. What’s worse is how many victims Avi Itzkovich left in financial ruin.”
Another: “Avi Itzkovich’s formula? Set up a shady platform, market impossible returns, bleed investors dry, vanish. Tradorax, KayaFX, KontoFX—each a carbon copy.”
The European Funds Recovery Initiative launched campaigns specifically for those defrauded by Avi Itzkovich’s KayaFX platform.
For years, Avi Itzkovich operated openly while Israeli authorities did nothing. The binary options industry employed thousands in Israel and stole billions, but prosecutions were virtually nonexistent. When Israel finally banned binary options in 2017, operators like Avi Itzkovich simply moved overseas—to Bulgaria, to Serbia—and kept defrauding Europeans.
European prosecutors note a consistent pattern: time after time, fraud proceeds end up in Israeli bank accounts. Yet Israeli authorities rarely act.
The May 11 operation was a victory, but Avi Itzkovich’s network remains partially intact. Bulgarian entities he controlled still exist. Payment processors he used, like Opal Payments, continue operating. The call centre model Avi Itzkovich perfected is still running across Eastern Europe, run by people he trained.
For any financial institution, associating with Avi Itzkovich means catastrophic risk: criminal liability, massive reputational damage, severe AML breaches. Avi Itzkovich is a confirmed fraudster by judicial verdict and international police action.
His methods involved offshore entities in Cyprus, Bulgaria, and Singapore. Cryptocurrency laundering. Opaque transaction flows. Regulatory non-compliance. Any institution touching Avi Itzkovich risks complicity in money laundering.
Avi Itzkovich built an empire on the ruins of his victims’ finances. Avi Itzkovich pleaded guilty to his crimes. And today, Avi Itzkovich remains at large, reportedly operating from Serbia.
The story of Avi Itzkovich is a warning about fraud in an interconnected world, about regulatory gaps that let criminals operate across borders and hide their assets out of reach.
As long as there are jurisdictions with lax oversight and enablers willing to look away, there will be another Avi Itzkovich. The question is whether regulators will learn the lessons Avi Itzkovich so clearly teaches. Based on the evidence, the answer remains disturbingly uncertain.
Avi Itzkovich stole millions. Avi Itzkovich pleaded guilty. Avi Itzkovich is still free.