Author: Iosefina Pascal
We have entered a completely different phase of the “Coldea’s Keymasters” series…
The results of my investigation today will shake not only the entire country but the entire world, which awaits the end of the bloodshed in Ukraine.
CryptoDATA is directly involved in the war in Ukraine – mercenaries, laptops, phones, cryptocurrencies, business with the Russians, and… toys.
In the war in Ukraine, a new battlefield has emerged, one in which encryption technologies and cryptocurrencies play a crucial role.
The war in Ukraine does not consist only of traditional warfare, but has evolved into a sophisticated information war, where the stakes are high, and the main objective is to discover the enemy’s next move. Cryptocurrencies have become the backbone of the war, with both sides channeling enormous sums to mercenaries through encrypted transactions. The financial trail leads to obscure entities, complicating the efforts of governments to track the flow of funds. The use of encrypted devices, such as laptops and mobile phones, has become a common strategy to ensure that critical information remains secure. Both factions involved in the conflict employ mercenaries who are generously paid in cryptocurrencies. These digital assets provide a cloak of anonymity, making it difficult to identify the actors involved.
When packages, equipment, or individuals are captured in Ukraine, these encrypted devices are found, which not only serve as secure communication channel but also as cryptocurrency wallet used to transfer funds to mercenaries. Captured individuals are subjected to torture to extract access codes for the encrypted devices. The encrypted devices used in the conflict are manufactured by the company led by Ovidiu Toma, CryptoDATA. These devices are not only used in the conflict in Ukraine but also in armed conflicts around Africa or the Middle East. The encrypted mobile phones used in this conflict are Impulse and EncroChat. We will come back to EncroChat shortly.
Here is a demonstrative picture of such a “package” – CryptoData phones and laptops can be identified alongside the mercenaries’ weapons.
The Impulse and EncroChat devices have become key components in the ongoing information war in Ukraine, providing a level of security that extends from encrypted communication to financial transactions. The use of such advanced technology not only underscores the evolutionary nature of the war but also poses significant challenges for intelligence agencies trying to understand the complexity of the conflict. The shocking revelation that these encrypted devices, manufactured by CryptoDATA, shape the course of the conflict in Ukraine raises ethical, legal, and strategic questions.
The most serious aspect is that CryptoDATA laptops were illegally introduced into Ukraine as early as December 2021, just a few months before the war began. Specifically, on December 21, 2021, Lviv customs officers reported the seizure of eight high-tech laptops. The laptops use encryption technology and can securely transmit and store data. Their total cost is approximately $10,000. They were illegally transported by a 24-year-old man from the Rivne region in a Volkswagen minivan. In his statement, he claimed that he was transporting old furniture and two bicycles. Customs officers, together with border police, discovered eight CryptoDATA laptops, which are produced by the Romanian company. Later, the driver admitted that the gadgets were requested to be transported from Germany, but he knew nothing about their cost. A protocol on violation of customs rules provided for in Article 472 of the Labor Code of Ukraine was drawn up against the driver. The undeclared goods were confiscated by the officers, and the case was sent to court.
According to the CryptoDATA manufacturer, the BASM series laptops have dual operating systems: the first operating system, a modified Ubuntu by CryptoData, has its own software, telecommunications protection, encryption and data transmission protocol, and private VPN. The second operating system is for everyday life. The Impulse smartphone from the same manufacturer has a similar technology. Below are images of the seizure by Ukrainian customs officers:
I checked online sales websites in Russia, and to my surprise, they are full of CryptoDATA products. Furthermore, there are partnerships for promotion between CryptoDATA and Russian companies. For example, SOTA Village, a company led by Andrej Gun, a Russian who makes modular houses or tiny houses. In a video posted on Instagram and tagged with Ovidiu Toma, Andrej Gun promotes the CryptoDATA laptop and the EDAIN cryptocurrency from CryptoDATA together with his own company.
In other words, Ovidiu Toma, the protégé of SRI General Florian Coldea and CEO of CryptoDATA, fuels and protects the war machine in Ukraine.
I wonder what is the opinion of the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) regarding the activities of their former operational chief.
I wonder what our partners from the EU, NATO, and the US think about Florian Coldea’s involvement in sponsoring and protecting mercenaries from both sides in Ukraine, as has been established.
I wonder what the President of the FIA, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the CEO of the Formula One Group, Stefano Domenicali, representatives of Formula 1 teams, journalists in the industry, and Formula 1 fans think about CryptoDATA’s involvement in the war in Ukraine, considering that CryptoDATA is the sponsor and technical partner of the Alfa Romeo Formula 1 team. We are awaiting an official position from the FIA regarding this matter, especially since teams like Ferrari and Mercedes have decided to completely abandon crypto-sponsors. The difference is that there have been no crypto-sponsors in F1 involved in wars until now.
I also wonder how the corrupt colonel from CryptoDATA, Bogdan Maruntis, who is the godson of General Coldea, managed to take a photo with Martin Reiss, the right-hand man of the corrupt former president of the FIA, Bernie Ecclestone.
I wonder how representatives of state institutions, who have purchased services, devices, and software from CryptoDATA using our money, are commenting on this.
I wonder if we still have any criminal investigation institutions left in Romania.
Let’s go back to EncroChat, so you understand the gravity of the actions committed by CryptoDATA, the proteges of the Romanian general, Florian Coldea. “Encrochat sold modified, fully encrypted Android mobile devices for approximately 1,000 euros, with a ‘panic code PIN’ option for quick deletions. EncroChat used standard Android devices and loaded them with their own applications. The phones had a feature that would erase the device’s content if the user entered a specific PIN, and they also ran two parallel operating systems. One operating system appeared harmless and resembled a regular version of Android, while the other contained the EncroChat messaging application. The encrypted messaging system from EncroChat first caught the attention of the French Gendarmerie in 2017, which regularly found the phones during operations against organized criminal gangs. In 2020, the EncroChat platform served approximately 50,000 phones. The platform’s clients were almost exclusively (90% or even 100%) individuals associated with the criminal world, according to French and Dutch officials. The company abruptly shut down in June 2020, apparently after its unidentified owners realized they had been compromised. The infiltration of this communication network, which promised anonymity to organized crime groups and the impossibility of interception, and whose servers were located in France, allowed for the interception of 115 million ‘criminal conversations’ from approximately 60,000 users. Over 6,500 people were arrested, and 900 million euros were confiscated: the dismantling in 2020 of the global encrypted communication network EncroChat severely shook international organized crime, according to an initial assessment by Europol, as reported by Le Figaro.”
Does that sound familiar? We’re talking about a recipe – cheap Android phones made in China, dual operating system, one for anonymity and the other for daily activities, encrypted messaging application, clients from the criminal world. What’s remarkable is that mercenaries, arms traffickers, drug traffickers, criminals, etc., literally appear in the promotional video of the CryptoDATA phone.
My sources even say that the owners of EncroChat remained unidentified and later rebranded as “CryptoDATA.” Now, we don’t want to believe rumors, but we see that both Impulse phones manufactured by CryptoDATA and EncroChat phones were found in Ukraine years after the EncroChat network was dismantled. Is it just a coincidence?
Mercenaries at the UNTOLD Dubai 2024 festival
As you know, at Ovidiu Toma’s table at the UNTOLD Festival in Dubai, where Florian Coldea was present with his underage daughter, there were also very sketchy people present, individuals with criminal records (including Toma), corrupt customs officers, corrupt BCCO police officers, corrupt military personnel, and, shockingly, MERCENARIES.
Several sources present at the table that evening have told me that a very loud, agitated individual with a strong Moldovan accent, codenamed “Nea’ Marian,” was also present. Well, “Nea’ Marian”, or Alexander by his real name, is a mercenary (he boasted about that at the table) originally from Transnistria, Republic of Moldova, the right-hand man of Toma and Coldea, and is involved, along with Ovidiu Toma’s partner, Colonel Bogdan Maruntis from the Ministry of National Defense, in recruiting mercenaries to fight in Ukraine, Congo, and Somalia.
My sources have told me that “Nea’ Marian” now recruits people from India, where CryptoDATA have opened a store and expanded their cryptocurrency scams. Here you can see him at the store’s inauguration – a recruitment center.
The money from the war – used to buy Russian propaganda materials.
If what you have read so far wasn’t serious enough, wait until you see what CryptoDATA is involved in during the election year in Romania.
I have received multiple documents, invoices, and photos, as I have mentioned since the beginning of the investigations three weeks ago. Among these documents is a contract in which CryptoDATA purchases toys from a supplier in Ukraine in December 2023.
What kind of toys? Vladimir Putin teddy bears, Vladimir Putin figurines, and other similar toys, worth $375,000. All of them featuring the image of the Russian President, Vladimir Putin.
The 250,000 Putin toys were delivered, according to the contract, at the beginning of 2024 to the CryptoDATA headquarters in Voluntari, Ilfov, Romania.
Where will these products end up? The situation is very serious considering that representatives of the Romanian state are making lists of so-called “Russian propagandists”, while our very own SRI General, Florian Coldea, together with Ovidiu Toma, through CryptoData, are doing business with Putin figurines, paying mercenaries, getting involved in the war in Ukraine, aiding enemies of the Romanian state, etc.
Here is the evidence:
I have seen similar figurines distributed at the “World Youth Forum” held in Sochi, Russia.
So, in over a month of investigating the criminal activities of CryptoDATA, we have gone from Ponzi schemes to cheap crypto scams, to CryptoDATA’s involvement in recruiting mercenaries fighting in Ukraine on both sides, to supplying encrypted devices directly to the Russians, to doing business with Russian companies, to acquiring Russian propaganda materials during an election year in Romania.
Meanwhile, the case in which the owner of UNTOLD was accused of pedophilia was abruptly closed. UNTOLD Dubai being the place where General Florian Coldea reunited with his former colleagues, mercenaries, criminals, and gangsters. The UNTOLD Dubai festival having CryptoDATA as its official partner.
Is it mere coincidence?
Also coincidentally, CryptoDATA receieved an award at the “Crypto Expo Europe” event a few days ago, amidst the media scandal regarding its scams and illegal activities.
I understand that General Florian Coldea of the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) is protected by the Romanian state through the various institutions he has infiltrated in recent decades of activity.
The key question is whether General Florian Coldea and his accomplices will also be protected by Romania’s international partners given their involvement in the war in Ukraine?
More revelations will follow because I will not accept that Romania’s national security be compromised by such individuals.
