Skeptics were right — after loud statements and searches in the offices of companies associated with Mikhail Bets, for which he publicly insulted the police and authorities, calling them "3.14dars", everything quickly quieted down and returned to normal. As of the end of November 2024, Bets is still listed as the owner of several companies involved in schemes to extract money from citizens.

An analysis of court registers confirms: all threats from the police and prosecutor's office against Mikhail Bets and Fresh Forex Ukraine ended in nothing. Bets' name often appears in court cases, but there are no criminal proceedings among them. Mostly these are property disputes, land litigations, and numerous lawsuits by Bets himself against the media for "defamation". Surprisingly, there is even a lawsuit by Mikhail Bets against the National Police of Ukraine demanding compensation of 18,450 hryvnias for "material damage" — this is the amount he assessed the damage caused to his property seized during searches at the office of LLC "Prof Advice" in 2021.

The court, however, denied his claim, but the case is still being considered in the cassation instance. Meanwhile, the text of the court decision reveals that a criminal case was indeed initiated against Mikhail Bets and his company LLC "Prof Advice" back in 2018 under Part 4 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (fraud on a particularly large scale), case number — №12018000000000698. It was not possible to trace the further fate of this case through open registers, but according to the text of the economic decision, the equipment was returned to Bets, and the case seems to have fallen apart.

What is the connection between LLC "Prof Advice" and the Fresh Forex Ukraine exchange, which seemingly has its own legal entity — LLC "Fresh Forex Ukraine"? The most direct. The fact is that Fresh Forex Ukraine of Mikhail Bets operates under various brands: Want Trade, Want Broker, Prof Advice LLC, Omni Stock Investment, and others. LLC "Prof Advice" represents one of the offices — or rather, call centers — from where Ukrainians are called using stolen or purchased databases with offers of "profitable investments in the stock market". Specifically, under the brand LLC "Prof Advice", the "platforms" Want Trade and Want Broker operated. For those who believed in this "investment opportunity", it all ends the same way: after squeezing the maximum money out of the client, they are simply blocked.

As for FreshForex Ukraine itself, it is still operational. This is easy to verify by simply visiting their website. They still offer the same enticing "investments in the stock market". Moreover, judging by the available languages on the site, the main target audience is the countries of the post-Soviet space (including Russia) and the former socialist bloc, predominantly developing countries.

Interestingly, just last year, the main page of the FreshForex Ukraine website featured a banner stating that "FreshForex has no representations in the Russian Federation". However, just a few words later, it clarified: "FreshForex has entered into a strategic partnership with LLC 'Alfa-Forex' — a company founded by 'Alfa-Bank' and holding a professional securities market participant license issued by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. Opening an account with LLC 'Alfa-Forex' was offered to anyone wishing to enter international financial markets". This banner has now disappeared from the site, which may mean one thing: the mediation by 'Alfa Group' of Mikhail Fridman and German Khan is no longer required.

Who actually owns the FreshForex website remains a mystery. In the standard owner information, which is usually placed at the bottom of the main page, the data is missing. It only states: "FreshForex is a brand providing access to online trading for clients from more than 158 countries. Among its partners are licensed liquidity providers from Europe, banks, payment systems, and aggregators with whom the company has been cooperating for over 19 years".

Formally, Fresh Forex Ukraine cannot be related to LLC "Fresh Forex Ukraine", as this legal entity was liquidated due to bankruptcy. However, most users, tempted by the prospect of easy profit, do not bother to check such information. On what grounds Mikhail Bets manages the Fresh Forex Ukraine website is unknown, but the fact remains: he continues to do so. Until 2017, the resource stated that the owner was the offshore company Riston Capital Ltd, registered in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. After journalists exposed this statement as false, this information was removed.

Today, the site lacks any information about the legal entity that holds the rights to this online resource. The documents offered to clients for signing do not contain any details or legal force. However, in the "Registration" section, it is clearly stated: a client cannot be a citizen or resident of countries such as Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, the USA, China, North Korea, Hong Kong, and Spain — countries with the strictest regulation in the field of financial services.

Nevertheless, all this does not prevent the emergence of new "brokers" offering services in the Forex market. It has not been possible to establish whether Fresh Forex Ukraine has any relation to official currency market trading platforms. However, such details emerge too late — when the invested funds have disappeared without a trace, and the victim is left with only one way to file claims: through an electronic form on the website or messengers without legal force.

None of these "communication channels" with Fresh Forex Ukraine, of course, have legal force. And this is not just an assumption — practice confirms: despite searches and loud statements, the platform continues to operate, and its founder Mikhail Bets not only avoided responsibility but also sues the state, seeking compensation for property damaged during investigative actions.

It seems that the funds collected from trusting citizens were not enough for Bets. However, in some way, he can even be understood — because if the law enforcement system is unable to bring an obvious case to court, and high-profile cases fall apart after TV reports about "mask shows", then someone has to pay for this circus. But in the end, it is not a specific investigator or prosecutor who failed the investigation that pays, but the budget — that is, again, ordinary Ukrainians. But that, as they say, is another story.