European P2P platform’s website still down as investors gear up for legal action
Investors are preparing to take legal action against Estonian peer-to-peer lender Envestio, one week after the platform’s website disappeared.
A 404 error message now greets visitors to envestio.com and emails to info@envestio.com bounce back with a message stating that the email address doesn’t exist.
When Peer2Peer Finance News phoned Envestio’s Tallinn-based office earlier today, we were met with a pre-recorded message saying that the phone number has not been recognised.
According to public statements from investors, the last payouts were made by Envestio on 12 January. The platform is believed to have held approximately €33m (£27.87m) of investors’ funds in early January.
Last week, the European Crowdfunding Network (ECN) confirmed that it was investigating the platform and is now advising investors to assume that there is a criminal element involved in Envestio’s case, as well as fellow Estonian platform Kuetzal.
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The ECN said: “Please be advised that as a consumer, with the current situation with both platforms (Kuetzal and Envestio), you are best advised to assume fraud or suspected crime and should make a relevant claim with the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board.”
Angry investors have flooded Envestio’s official Facebook page calling the company a “scam” and a “criminal organisation” and asking where their money is.
Several Estonia-based investors have attempted to visit the platform’s Tallinn office, only to find that it is a small building where more than 700 different companies are registered.
“If current problems are not sorted out in a proper and transparent way, you have to realise that a lawsuit will be started on behalf of all the investors of loans,” said one investor on the Envestio Facebook page.
Envestio’s representatives have not made any public comment since 21 January, when a lengthy statement was posted on the company’s Facebook page, blaming the website issues on a hacking attempt. Since then, Envestio’s chief operating officer Evgeniy Kukin has deleted his social media accounts.
If you have been affected by the Envestio collapse, you can lodge an official claim with the Estonian authorities at: https://www.politsei.ee/en.
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