Vitae
Provisional: this score is the AI investigator's judgment, not yet calculated by our published formula. Treat it as indicative. How scoring works →
anchored·4K1G48…AorhSummary
Vitae was a social-media rewards platform operated by Switzerland-registered Vitae AG, which issued the VITAE token and promised users income from content interactions through a multi-level affiliate structure. Belgian and Swiss authorities, coordinated by Europol, shut down the platform in June 2021, arresting five individuals and seizing over €2.6 million in cash and cryptocurrency across 17 raids, alleging the operation was a Ponzi and pyramid fraud that defrauded approximately 223,000 people in 177 countries. The platform's founder, Michael Weber, operated under the alias 'Michael Bradley' and had prior involvement in the BitConnect Ponzi scheme; he remained at large in the United States as of last known reporting.
Connected Entities
4 entities · 14 linked investigations- Vitae→mentioned with→Canton Network(65%)
- Vitae→mentioned with→OneCoin(70%)
- Vitae→mentioned with→BitConnect(70%)
Connected Through
3 shared actors · 14 investigationsDistinct actors this investigation shares with others — holders, traders, and named parties. Shared infrastructure (exchanges, pools) is excluded.
- ♦OneCointoken
- □Canton Networkorganization
- □BitConnectorganization
Timeline(16 events)
June 2014
Michael Weber launches X100K, a matrix pyramid scheme, marking his first documented MLM fraud operation.
BehindMLM X100K Review2016
X100K collapses after multiple restarts and is abandoned by Weber.
BehindMLM Vitae Ponzi scheme shut down by Belgian authoritiesJune 2016
Weber launches PIF2Cash, a Ponzi cycler framed as a reboot of X100K.
BehindMLM PIF2Cash Review16 January 2018
BitConnect, in which Weber was a top earner, collapses. Weber subsequently loses his prior scheme income stream.
BehindMLM Vitae Ponzi scheme shut down by Belgian authoritiesMarch 2018
Vitae Coin (later renamed Vitae Token) launches, marketed as a PIVX-fork social rewards platform, within months of BitConnect's collapse.
BehindMLM Vitae Ponzi scheme shut down by Belgian authoritiesDecember 2019
A Belgian individual identified in Swiss reporting as 'Z.' becomes a board member of Vitae AG in Zug, serving as European-facing promoter via Zoom and Telegram.
Watson.ch — Cyberbetrug: Spur führt in den Kanton Zug19 June 2020
Vietnam's Department of Competition and Consumer Protection issues a fraud warning against Vitae, identifying signs of pyramid investment. Vitae's Discord operations are shut down the same month.
BehindMLM — Crowd1, OneLink & Vitae fraud warnings issued in VietnamAugust 2020
Vitae Rain Chat revshare scheme launches, adding a $14.99/month membership with ad-credit positions paying returns funded by new participants.
BehindMLM — Vitae Rain Chat Review19 June 2021
Michael Weber's last documented social media activity (a retweet) before disappearing from public view.
BehindMLM — Two arrested Vitae executives named, Michael Weber MIA22 June 2021
Belgian judiciary orders seizure of vitae.co and vitaetoken.io domains under magistrate Philippe Van Linthout. Cash (€1.1M), cryptocurrency (€1.5M), 17 luxury vehicles, watches, and gold are seized.
Europol — Europol helps Belgian and Swiss authorities unravel Vitae Ponzi scheme24 June 2021
Belgian Federal Judicial Police, coordinated by Europol and Swiss Fedpol, raid 17 locations and arrest five individuals including Vitae CCO Mendy Zicherman and COO Shrage Posen. Charges include criminal organization membership, fraud, and money laundering.
Europol — Europol helps Belgian and Swiss authorities unravel Vitae Ponzi schemeOctober 2021
Vitae operators, via wearevitae.org, begin soliciting donations from users toward a legal defense fund, framing contributions as a path to recovering frozen assets.
BehindMLM — Vitae begging victims for legal defense fund money2022
Vitae AG entity, formerly registered at a Zug law office, is relocated to the Canton of Zurich according to Swiss reporting.
Watson.ch — Cyberbetrug: Spur führt in den Kanton Zug15 June 2023
Non-profit 'Justice for the Vitae Members' (JuViMe VZW) statutes published in the Belgian Official Gazette, formalizing the victims' collective legal action.
De Groote De Man law firm — We help the victims of the Vitae fraudDecision Log
- slot 423509420 · hash EFW7cddQnTq86SRjHCJ97RjsNytVxGAbLw9UTzKv5y2o
- slot 423509416 · hash 9dWfMM5X8VXSqtkEiKEywRoEXfZ9ZFqXSiFQqmvjSfpe
- slot 423445720 · hash 7iHEBeijS1EWSTbMHChWxFWnkUGM1gs8goMqkSmoTpaf
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (3 decisions). 15 of 17 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 5/31/2026, 8:20:39 PM
last updated: 5/31/2026, 8:20:39 PM
3 viewsavoid.net — verified advice for a post-truth world