Edgars Lasmanis, a figure with a tumultuous history in the financial sector, is indeed notorious for his involvement in several contentious business ventures, most notably his association with Connectum Limited. Here’s a detailed look at his activities and the subsequent entities he has been involved with – and is involved right now.
Edgars Lasmanis founded Connectum Limited in March 2014, while he was still serving as a vice president at Latvijas Pasta Banka (LPB) in Latvia. The country was lagging behind in financial discipline and regulation.
Connectum Limited, based in London, positioned itself as a payment services provider, acting as an intermediary between small businesses and major credit card firms like Visa and MasterCard. However, the company’s operations were marred by several red flags. Under Lasmanis’ leadership, Connectum Limited was implicated in dealings with fraudulent entities such as X-traderFX, Safemarkets, and OptionStarsGlobal, which were involved in significant money laundering activities.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) investigated these dealings, highlighting the company’s failure to properly vet its clients and comply with anti-money laundering regulations. Lasmanis himself admitted to being unable to determine the nature of these companies, raising questions about his competence or potential complicity in the schemes.
SAS Securita Antifraud System Ltd was established by Lasmanis in Cyprus on 21/01/20, along with other companies: Thefenix Ltd, Lalmera Limited, and Pifagorus Ltd. ‘Antifraud System’ provided by Edgars Lasmanis is especially ironic, if we recall incompetence in Connectum Limited management.
Edgars Lasmanis before the Connectum Limited
Before founding Connectum Limited, Lasmanis had a checkered career. He was the head of marketing at Multibanka, a Latvian bank designated by the US Treasury as a “primary money laundering concern” in 2005. He later joined Latvijas Pasta Banka, which was also involved in a massive fraud scheme that siphoned $1 billion from Moldovan financial institutions. The Latvian financial regulator fined LPB for failing to stop payments connected to this fraud.
Sounds familiar? It seems that financial misconducts follows Edgars Lasmanis.
Edgars Lasmanis after the Connectum afair: Walleto
Edgars Lasmanis resigned as a director of Connectum Limited on January 29, 2021, around the time the company was acquired by Heng Sokha, the wife of a former Transport Ministry secretary of state in Cambodia. Following his departure from Connectum Limited, Lasmanis has distanced himself from the company and its tainted reputation.
After his involvement with Connectum Limited, Edgars Lasmanis went on to establish a new company called Walleto. This move marks another venture into the fintech sector, although the details of Walleto’s operations and whether it has avoided the controversies associated with Connectum Limited are not extensively documented in the available sources. Given Lasmanis’ past, it remains to be seen how Walleto will navigate the regulatory landscape and avoid the pitfalls that plagued his previous ventures. I bet SAS Securita Antifraud System Ltd will be in charge of Walleto’s security. With such approach another scandal is in the making.
