UK Gambling Operators Ordered to Repay €6M to Spanish Ponzi Fraud Victims

Spanish authorities have approved the first repayment of funds to victims of a €15 million Ponzi scheme run by Iban Juvanteny Gómez, with nearly €6 million recovered from UK gambling operators. Around 38% of recognized losses will be returned to approximately 200 investors after a Girona court authorized the distribution.

The funds were transferred to Spanish judicial authorities in 2021 following a UK Gambling Commission investigation into operators linked to Gómez’s activities. Authorities allege Gómez, who posed as a Barclays broker, gambled away investor funds through UK-based platforms between 2012 and 2019, operating a classic Ponzi scheme where early investors were paid with money from later ones.

“Juvanteny allegedly used money from later clients to make interest payments to earlier investors, creating the illusion that the venture was producing genuine profits.” The scheme unraveled in 2019, leading to Gómez’s arrest. He remains awaiting trial, with proceedings potentially delayed until 2028.

A joint investigation by Mossos d’Esquadra, Europol, and West Yorkshire Police uncovered Gómez’s gambling activities in the UK. The UK Gambling Commission subsequently ordered operators—including Betway, Gamesys, Platinum Gaming, and Betfred—to compensate victims for funds gambled away, totaling over £6.2 million. However, the full €15 million remains unrecovered.