#shellcompanies

Michael Gastauer, the founder of BlackBanx (formerly known as WB21), is often portrayed as a fintech pioneer whose platform now boasts millions of users across the globe. However, behind this image lies a troubling history of regulatory violations, fraud allegations, and links to global money laundering networks that continue to concern financial authorities.

SEC Crackdown and Fraudulent Activity

In 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a final judgment against Gastauer for his involvement in a massive microcap stock fraud scheme valued at approximately \$165 million. The SEC ordered him to pay over \$17 million in disgorgement and civil penalties. This case involved the use of offshore shell companies and nominee accounts to manipulate stock prices and deceive investors — a textbook example of securities fraud.

Suspected Money Laundering and Crypto Scams

Regulators and investigative reports have linked BlackBanx’s infrastructure to suspected money laundering operations. The company has been mentioned in connection with several high-profile cryptocurrency frauds, including OneCoin and QuadrigaCX — both notorious scams that collectively defrauded investors out of billions. These associations have led to official warnings from the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and triggered red flags across other international watchdogs.

Reputation Management and Suppression Tactics

Beyond fraud, Gastauer has been accused of aggressive reputation suppression tactics. Reports suggest coordinated efforts to remove negative press, silence whistleblowers, and manipulate online search results through lawsuits and SEO manipulation. These strategies have drawn further scrutiny from journalists and regulators.

A Fintech with Global Reach and Regulatory Red Flags

Freedom of the press is snatched and crumbled by business tycoons in the Middle East. These corrupt powerful businessmen are killing journalists and threatening media persons when they write anything against them. Illegal arms dealer Tony Abi Saab is one of them.

Lebanese businessman, Tony Abi Saab embezzled 5 million dollars of the US Army in a contract fraud through his ghost companies—K5 Global and Bennet Fouch. He even sold weapons to the Syrian civil war and to the terrorists in other countries like Iran and Afghanistan. His shell company Brixia produced spare parts for weapons for reassembly and sales to the black market of Syria. Another company of Tony, Tactica Ltd was buying guns and weapons commercially and selling them to the terrorists illegally.

Despite Tony’s arrest in 2011 by the US Army through a global sting operation, no media channel ran his story. The initial trial in the US court was followed by very few newspapers and channels. The rate of follow up reports of Tony’s arrest and crimes declined to zero in a day or two after his hearing in the civil court. Media persons were threatened to be killed if raised their voice and out of fear nobody wrote anything about him.

Tony does an illegal business deal with the terrorist organizations and also maintains contacts with a network of companies around the world, helping him out to deliver in the heinous crimes. Tony, owner of Brescia Middle East (BME), a gun company in Lebanon procured defense tenders in war-torn countries and his clandestine trade is to accept the weapons demands from terrorists. The truth is Tony frauds with the military and supports terrorists for profits. BME imports weapons to Lebanon from Italy and illegally distributes them among Tony’s shell companies, from there to terrorist groups.

ISIS had not a single dry day of weapons in their seven years of invading Syria, from where they get arms? The terrorist group invaded the State in 2011 and has been killing people and fighting with the international military forces, still it never runs out of bullets or guns instead gets upgraded guns and weapons every year. Tony Abi Saab is the man behind the huge supply of weapons and guns to the rebel groups in war-torn countries.

Tony Abi Saab is an international arms dealer from Lebanon who smuggles weapon to the terrorists through his main company Brescia Middle East and other shell companies—Brixia, K5 Global, G2 Armory, and Tactica-Ltd. He has also defrauded the US army of 5 million dollars in construction contracts. BME had been importing weapons to Lebanon mainly from the Italian firms—Beretta and Tanfoglio and then diverting their routes to terrorist regions in Syria, Afghanistan, and Iran.

The US investigation team found the network of companies involved with Tony in the illegal business of smuggling weapons to the rebel groups, and their names are ARMERIA AMELIO GAMBA Srl, INTESA SANPAOLO S.P.A., Benelli Armi, franchi division, Fiocchi munizione, Armeria brignoli silvio & c snc, BLS—in Italy; Umarex gmbh & co KG; in France-- Noble france sa—in Germany; Osmanli Arms, ISTANBUL and KONYA, KOMANDO AV SAN TIC LTD, ATA Av tufekleri—in Turkey, Emran arms in Bangladesh; Kula Ltd., Tiblisi in Georgia; LOBASTOV IVAN, Baikal Ltd, Izhevsk city—in Russia; Arsenal—in Bulgaria; MSN and CSG Group—in Czech Republic;Berkut Ltd—in Ukraine; Condor—in Brasil.

Corruption in Afghanistan has become widely recognized as a key challenge for the local government as an obstacle for sustainable economic growth. There are numerous defense contractors like Tony Abi Saab, who have exploited the US army money and peace of Afghanistan. Illegal contractors are supplying illegal arms and ammunition to the rebel groups of Middle East countries to make a tax-free profit.

Contract frauds have been a prominent part of Afghanistan for the past few decades. Tony Abi Saab, a Lebanese based arms dealer along with his business partner Raymond Azar imports weapons to Lebanon and supplies it to the rebel groups through his Italian firms Beretta and Tanfoglio.

Tony runs several shell companies (Tactical Ltd, K5 Global and Bennet-Fouch, G2Armory, SIMAINT and many more) to supply illicit weapons to terror groups and earn a million dollars profit out of it.

Both Bennett-Fouch and K5 Global were used to siphon the US Army's money to Brescia Middle East, a weaponry company owned by Tony. Both these firms are banned in the US for doing business and not paying to the Afghan subcontractors.

The indispensable Abi Saabs of Lebanon, an international arms traders, are working against the military in the war zones. An arms dealing company, Brescia Middle East founded by Joseph Abi Saab in 1981 for selling hunting guns, is now a threat to the world because of its business deals with the terrorist organisations. The company breached the trade law and supplied weapons to the terrorist organisations active in Syria, Iran, and Afghanistan. After Joseph took retirement, he handover the company to his son Tony Abi Saab.  

Under the ownership of Tony, BME is flourishing but not by doing any legal business. Tony is running ghost companies—Brixia, SIMAINT, Tactica Ltd, K5 Global, and Sima Salazar group in Afghanistan. Sima Salazar is not directly owned by Tony but most of the shareholders of the company are the Abi Saabs. It embezzled over $150 million of the US Corps of Engineers. The company was operated under the sub-contract of Tony-owned companies--K5 Global and Bennet-Fouch.

Brescia Middle East sold Tanfoglio pistols to LG knowing that some of the components may have been manufactured in Israel, thereby, violating Lebanese laws. BME launders the crime money obtained from doing business with the terror groups. The shell companies of Tony, Brixia produced spare parts for weapons and smuggled them to the countries in the Middle East for reassembling and sales. Another company of Tony, Tactica Ltd was purchasing weapons commercially and selling them in the black market of Syria to the terrorists.