Italian authorities have arrested Mexican national Perez Zamorano, the founder of Inverforx, following an international warrant issued by Mexican prosecutors. Zamorano was apprehended in Palermo after disembarking from the MSC Seaside cruise ship, where he was traveling under a false identity.
Dubbed Mexico’s “financial guru,” Zamorano is accused of orchestrating a massive fraudulent investment scheme that defrauded over 10,000 investors of an estimated €600 million ($650 million). Mexican authorities are seeking a nine-year prison sentence for his involvement in Grupo Inverforx, a now-defunct company described as “the scam of the century” in Mexico.
Inverforx was founded in 2019 through a shell company called Strategic Capital Agency SAPI de CV. The firm lured investors with promises of returns as high as 81% in nine months by investing in commodities like lithium, oil, gold, and cotton—vastly outperforming Mexico’s average bank interest rate of 10.5%.
Initially, Inverforx paid modest returns to build trust. However, when investors, many of whom were teachers and middle-class workers, contributed larger sums—some up to $4 million—communications stopped and the funds disappeared.
Legal complaints began accumulating in 2023 after a whistleblower from Mexico’s national teachers’ union accused the company of fraud. There have also been unproven allegations linking Inverforx to former state officials from Michoacán.
Attorney Fernando Lozada, representing about 100 victims, described the scam as a typical pyramid scheme: “They gave small profits back at first to gain their trust. Once clients invested everything — they vanished.”
Perez Zamorano has requested legal counsel and declined to speak with investigators. He now faces a hearing before Italy’s Court of Appeal in Palermo, which will decide on his extradition to Mexico—a critical step for justice for thousands of victims.
