A Canadian company, Metaverse Foreign Exchange Group Inc. (MTFE), is at the heart of an alleged pyramid scheme that authorities claim has defrauded more than US$2 billion from hundreds of thousands of investors in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Headquartered in Markham, Ontario, MTFE presented itself as a legitimate online trading platform, federally incorporated and registered with Canada’s money laundering watchdog. However, in August 2023, the platform ceased operations, and investors’ funds vanished, prompting investigations by Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi authorities.
According to the investigation by the Investigative Journalism Foundation (IJF) and CTV News, MTFE was part of a network of Canadian shell companies that exploited lax regulatory environments to facilitate fraudulent activities. The Ontario Securities Commission had issued a warning in July 2023 about MTFE’s unregistered status, but it came too late for many investors.
Experts argue that the case exposes significant gaps in Canada’s enforcement mechanisms against financial crimes, underscoring the need for stricter regulations and more robust oversight.
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