An affiliate of DAO1’s Alexandru Nicolae Bodi (aka Alex Bodi), has been arrested in Romania.
Late final 12 months Horatiu Potra was “arrested for allegedly planning to instigate unrest in Romania.”
As reported by DW on February thirteenth, 2025;
In late 2024, Potra made the headlines in his native Romania because of his shut hyperlinks to Calin Georgescu, the far-right extremist who gained the primary spherical of the nation’s presidential election.
Romanian authorities initially alleged that Potra and Georgescu have been planning a coup. Now, increasingly of his doubtful actions are coming to gentle.
In early December, Potra was arrested whereas driving to Bucharest. Officers discovered knives, different weapons, radio gear and a telescope within the trunk of the automotive.
Authorities have alleged he was touring to the Romanian capital to trigger unrest after the annulment of the election simply two days beforehand.
On Wednesday February twenty sixth, Romanian authorities raided Potra’s dwelling and located
a veritable arsenal – pistols, submachine weapons, grenades, grenade launchers, and loads of ammunition.
DW sums up Potra, who was convicted of unlawful possession of firearms in 2011, as a Romanian mercenary with ties to Russia.
[Potra] labored as a bodyguard for quite a lot of political and navy leaders within the Center East and Africa, as a coach for particular troops and guarded the gemstone and diamond mines of Romanian businesspeople in African nations, together with the Romanian-Australian mining billionaire Vasile Frank Timis.
In line with the Berlin every day newspaper taz … Potra is alleged to have acquired cost from Moscow in 2016 to coach bodyguards for Faustin-Archange Touadera, who was elected president of the Central African Republic that 12 months.
I need to stress that the present political local weather in Romania is past the scope of this text.
Potra’s ties to Romanian mining pursuits in Africa brings us to Alex Bodi and enterprise companion Josip Heit.
In Might 2019 7est documented a March 2019 assembly between Potra, Bodi and Heit.
Nicknamed “The Mercenary,” Horațiu Potra skilled within the French Legion and fought within the Center East within the Nineties, then moved to Africa.
This may be the connection to Bodi, who works for a corporation that owns a gold mine on the continent.
Along with no matter else he was as much as, in 2019 Bodi was “working” for Gold Commonplace Financial institution (GSB). Up till very just lately, Josip Heit was GSB’s Chairman of the Board.
As per a November 2020 report from Balkan Insights;
Bodi hails from a modest household that emigrated to Spain and is believed to have labored for a Croatian businessman with mining pursuits in Africa.
Josip Heit, born Josip Curic, is Croatian by start.
Circa 2019 GSB was connected to Karatbars Worldwide. Initially a gold-themed MLM pyramid scheme, GSB, and by proxy Heit and Bodi, is believed to be behind Karatbars Worldwide’s failed transition to cryptocurrency fraud.
GSB’s proximity to Karatbars Worldwide sees Heit and Bodi, together with Harald Seiz and Ovidiu Toma, generally cited as co-founders of the scheme.
After Karatbars’ collapsed Seiz fled to Thailand. Final month Romanian authorities raided the places of work of CryptoData, an organization owned by Ovidiu Toma.
Talking on the raids, Toma said;
DNA prosecutors requested paperwork associated to a former affiliate, which they made accessible.
Getting again to the “firm that owns a gold mine on the continent”, that might be Karatbars Worldwide. Or at the very least mining gold in Africa was a part of Karatbars Worldwide’s advertising ruse.
To cite the above linked Karatbars Worldwide co-founder press-release;
officers on the Madagascar Chamber of Mines have said that:
“We remorse to tell you that there isn’t any Fort Dauphin gold mine in Madagascar and Karatbars doesn’t maintain a mining allow in Madagascar.”
Quoting “an investigation by Handelsblatt”, the Guardian reported in 2019;
Karatbars’ presentation named the Madagascar gold mine that supposedly assured the steadiness of its foreign money as Fort Dauphin, however in accordance with miningdataonline.com the one mine on the island with that title incorporates solely titanium and zircon.
Seiz and Karatbars are being sued by a Swiss tutorial who claims they plagiarised a report she wrote concerning the contents of a bunch of copper mines in Chile.
In an interview with Handelsblatt, Seiz conceded the report had been faked, blaming a former enterprise affiliate, and he failed to offer proof that he owned a stake in a gold mine in any respect.
Seiz’s unnamed “former affiliate” is believed to be Josip Heit.
GSB’s ties to Africa are additional emphasised by Heit turning up at a G20 occasion in Africa in 2021.
With an space equal to Western Europe, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the most important nation in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Félix Tshisekedi has been president of the DRC since 2019.
President Tshisekedi is actively selling the digitalisation of the nation’s administration so as to scale back fraud and waste; right here the blockchain know-how of the GSB Gold Commonplace Group of Corporations is a attainable method to be used in administration.
Quick-forward to 2022 and, as reported by PressHub on March third, 2025;
Mercenary Horațiu Potra, the trusted man of presidential candidate Călin Georgescu, purchased a plot of land from a sure Ovidiu Cocoș in August 2022. The latter is the trusted man of underworld determine Alex Bodi.
Bodi’s personal legal historical past stems from alleged “drug trafficking, pimping, human trafficking, migrant trafficking, tax evasion or cash laundering”.
Bodi is named Adrian Tamplaru’s “right-hand man”.
Tamplaru, along with being Bodi’s wedding ceremony godfather, is the previous lieutenant of imprisoned Romanian mafia don Ion Clămparu.
Bodi was arrested by Romanian authorities in 2020.
As reported by Incisiv de Parhova in November 2020;
On Wednesday morning, DIICOT prosecutors raided 23 addresses in eight counties: Ilfov, Brașov, Dolj, Gorj, Giurgiu, Olt, Sibiu and Vâlcea.
The target: to dismantle an organized legal group specialised in human trafficking and pimping. The community was led by the lieutenant of a well-known legal, DIICOT reveals.
From the prevailing knowledge, it was established that, shortly after the dismantling of a bunch led by a distinguished member of the underworld [Ion Clămparu] (a bunch specialised in human trafficking and pimping), the suspect in query [Adrian Tamplaru] (one of many underworld’s lieutenants), whereas in jail, between 2008 and 2011, along with three different inmates, used social networks to recruit younger girls who practiced prostitution and, deceptive them, both with the promise of a typical future (the loverboy technique) or with the identification of an advantageous job, respectively profiting from their state of vulnerability (poor monetary scenario, naivety, lack of training – figuring out elements for the respective younger girls in selecting to observe prostitution), satisfied them to prostitute themselves for his or her profit.
Beneath the coordination of the chief, the foundations of a legal group have been laid, specializing primarily in human trafficking, trafficking in minors and pimping, and secondarily in blackmail (because of paying safety charges).
Shortly after they have been launched from jail, the legal group recruited 12 different suspects, together with whom they recruited different victims, transported and sheltered them within the West (Germany, Spain, Italy, Nice Britain, Switzerland) and compelled them to observe prostitution for his or her profit, in numerous specialised golf equipment.
Maybe not surprisingly, blended into this we even have the Tate brothers – additionally associates of Alex Bodi.
Andrew and Tristan Tate have been arrested by Romanian authorities on human trafficking and arranged crime prices in December 2022.
In June 2023, DIICOT adjusted the costs from human trafficking to “human trafficking in continued type”, a extra critical cost, with seven victims recognized.
The 4 accused have been indicted on prices of rape, human trafficking, and forming an organised crime group to sexually exploit girls.
In August 2024, Romanian police expanded their investigation in opposition to Tate to incorporate trafficking minors, intercourse with a minor, cash laundering and making an attempt to affect witnesses.
In March 2024, the UK’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court docket issued a European arrest warrant in opposition to Andrew and Tristan Tate. In line with Tate’s consultant, the costs are primarily based on allegations of sexual aggression from 2012 to 2015.
Proof submitted by Romanian authorities in court docket embrace textual content messages between the Tate brothers.
Tristan Tate: So, shut the hell up earlier than you get me arrested due to you.
You’ll be able to’t get mad and begin writing to me about how I did unlawful issues. I may get in bother like Alex Bodi.
A Might 2023 investigative report by the Rise Undertaking ties each the Tate brothers and Adrian Tamplaru to the DMS Group.
The [Tate brothers] are related to the most important organized crime brotherhood in Romania’s current historical past: the DMS Household.
The group’s members have a wealthy legal historical past: accusations of planning assassinations, drug trafficking, usury, repossessions, violent road fights, but in addition monetary and land juggling.
Pending the end result of their case, Tate brothers have been topic to a journey ban confining them to Romania.
Following an intervention by the brand new Trump administration final month, the Tate brothers had their US passports returned to them in late February.
5 days in the past the Tate brothers left for the US, on situation they return to Romania by the tip of March.
Earlier immediately the Florida AG’s Workplace introduced its personal legal investigation.
Florida has launched a legal investigation into British-American influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate, who flew to the state final week from Romania, the place they confronted rape and human-trafficking prices.
Florida’s lawyer basic, James Uthmeier, stated investigators have issued search warrants and subpoenas as a part of a “now-active” inquiry.
Again in Romania, in December Radu Marinescu was appointed Romania’s new Minister of Justice. Marinescu can be Alex Bodi’s former lawyer.
On Bodi’s ongoing legal trial, 7est reported;
In mid-November, the Alba Court docket of Enchantment admitted the appeals filed by the Excessive Court docket of Cassation and Justice – DIICOT – BT Sibiu and 10 defendants, together with Alex Bodi, Bianca Dragusanu’s ex-boyfriend and son-in-law of Sibiu underworld determine Adrian Tamplaru (44).
Tamplaru, Bodi and virtually 30 different individuals are on trial for forming an organized legal group, human trafficking and pimping.
The granted enchantment will end in a retrial of DIICOT’s legal case sooner or later.
Within the meantime Bodi, Josip Heit (who has his personal legal previous) and Dirc Zahlmann (a respondent in a number of standing GSPartners regulatory enforcement orders), are fronting DAO1.
After Karatbars Worldwide collapsed, GSB went on to launch GSPartners in mid to late 2020.
Citing GSPartners as a “fraudulent funding scheme”, North American regulators issued over a dozen GSPartners fraud warnings in 2023.
GSB and Heit are at present within the midst of a regulatory settlement that may see them refund North American GSPartners victims.
Following 4 failed GSPartners reboots, DAO1 launched in late 2024.
DAO1 isn’t accessible to North American residents. Authorities in Australia and New Zealand have already issued DAO1 fraud warnings.
As of January 2025, SimilarWeb was monitoring high sources of DAO1 web site visitors as Greece (28%), Romania (19%), Russia (15%), Ukraine (10%) and South Africa (10%).