Update On The FCA-Regulated Latvian PaysTree And Its Network!

Ben
Tue, 02 Aug 2022 06:50:16 +0000
EMI, FCA, Fintech, High-risk payment processors, Aleksandrs Zelinskis, Alisa Saltykova, Anna Zotova, Anselm Schmucki, Eugene Malahov, Everyfin, Evija Meimane, Germans Juferova, Guntars Reidzans, Hawex Group, Jevgenijs Marenics, Kirill Baldakov, Michael Charles Borrelli, Mihails Safro, Mohammad Awada, Oksana Zelepene, payinter, Paypugs, PaysTree, Romans Jakovenko, SEBES Technology, Stanislavs Caikovskis, Tiaplata Fintech, xpate

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In May 2022, FinTelegram published the initial report on the FCA-regulated e-Money Institution PaysTree and its network of companies and individuals. PaysTree and the network are controlled by Latvian citizens. One of the FCA-registered agents of PaysTree is the Hawex Group, which is allegedly controlled by iPayTotal founder Ruchi Rathor and her team. According to the UK Companies House PaysTree is controlled by the Swiss citizen Anselm Oskar Schmucki. Here is another update.

Key data

Hub operator | PaysTree

Business activity

e-Money Institution and
Merchant Service Provider

Domain | https://paystree.com
Legal entity | Paystree Ltd (UK)

Authorization

FCA-regulated e-Money Institution
with reference no 900900

Jurisdiction | United Kingdom

Related entities

payinter ltd d/b/a payinter (agent for PaysTree)
Everyfin Ltd d/b/a everyfin (agent for PaysTree)
Hawex Group Ltd d/b/a Hawex (agent for PaysTree)
Paypugs Limited d/b/a PayPugs (agent for PaysTree)
Sebes Technology Ltd, Cyprus, d/b/a SEBES Technology
Tiaplata Fintech Ltd, Canada, d/b/a TIAPLATA
Xpate Ltd d/b/a xpate regulated by FCA as EMI

Related individuals

Mihails Safro, Latvia (LinkedIn)
Anna Zotova, Latvia (LinkedIn)
Jevgenijs Marenics, Latvia
Stanislavs Caikovskis, Latvia
Evija Meimane, Latvia
Guntars Reidzans, Latvia
Oksana Zelepene, Latvia
Kirill Baldakov, Russia
German(s) Juferova, Latvia
Roman(s) Jakovenko, Latvia
Stanislav(s) Jakovenko, Latvia
Eugene Malahov, Latvia
Aleksandrs Zelinskis, Latvia
Mohammad Awada, UK
Michael Charles Borrelli, UK
Anselm Schmucki, Swiss
Alisa Saltykova, UK

Short narrative

PaysTree Ltd has been an e-money institution regulated by the FCA since August 2018. It was founded in December 2017 by Latvian Mihails “Mike” Safro (pictured left), who was initially registered at UK Companies House as both a director and controlling person. He resigned from PaysTree in the summer to establish Xpate Ltd, another FCA-regulated EMI.

Currently, Swiss citizen Anselm Schmucki is the controlling person of PayTrees. The directors are the Latvians Stanislavs Caikovskis, Evija Meimane, and Guntars Reidzans.

In 2020, the company had 21 employees, most apparently in Latvia, as the LinkedIn connections suggest.

PaysTree‘s FCA-registered agents are also all controlled by Latvians: payinter (https://payinter.me), everyfin (https://everyfin.co.uk), Hawex (https://hawex.io), or PayPugs (https://paypugs.com). The acting individuals of everyfin also founded and run the SEBES Technology payment venture in Cyprus and TIAPLATA, a registered Money Business Service in Canada.

Hawex Group And iPayTotal

Hawex Group Ltd was founded in July 2021 by Russian Kirill Badakov, who was also registered as the company’s beneficial owner. With the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Badakov has withdrawn, and London-based musician Alisa Saltykova is now officially the beneficial owner. We have received whistleblower information that Hawex Group is linked to and controlled by Ruchi Rathor, the co-founder of iPayTotal Group.

Share information

If you have any information about the PaysTree ecosystem, please share it with us through our whistleblower system, Whistle42.