Trust Your Universe, a Dubai-based investment scheme promising 10% monthly returns, rebranded as Universe Academy in March 2023, just weeks after financial regulators in Germany and Austria issued securities fraud warnings against its operations. Dada Pey, the scheme's operator, whose connections primarily drew investors from Germany and Austria, disappeared from public view after these official notices.
Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) issued its warning against Trust Your Universe on December 22, 2022. Austria's Financial Market Authority followed with its own securities fraud alert on March 17, 2023. Pey subsequently deleted his active Instagram account.
The new Universe Academy website, "the-universe.academy," was privately registered on March 10, 2023. No mention of Dada Pey appears on the site. Trust Your Universe previously operated through Universe Trading LLC, a shell company registered in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a jurisdiction known for its lax financial oversight. Universe Academy shifted its shell incorporation to Thailand.
The core fraudulent investment model remained consistent despite the rebranding and jurisdictional change. Trust Your Universe claimed to generate investor returns through trading activities. Universe Academy, however, reframed its operation as a "Shareholder Club." This new premise invited participants to "earn a share of our weekly revenue, simply by investing in yourself and promoting our courses and services to others."
Such language often serves to obscure the true nature of a Ponzi scheme, which pays early investors with funds from later recruits. The 10% monthly return rate, a hallmark of Trust Your Universe, persisted under the Universe Academy banner. This high, fixed return is a common red flag for illegitimate investment opportunities.
The pattern of rebranding and relocating is a frequent tactic among fraudulent schemes attempting to evade regulatory scrutiny and prolong their lifespan. By switching company names and corporate registrations, operators aim to shed negative publicity and attract new, uninformed investors. However, this strategy rarely provides lasting protection from authorities.
Universe Academy ultimately collapsed. By November 2023, reports indicated the scheme had rebooted yet again, this time under the name LegacyX. This third iteration operated from the domain "legacyx.de," maintaining the same pretense of forex trading to solicit funds.
The German BaFin confirmed on March 5, 2024, that it is also investigating LegacyX. Victims of such international schemes often face significant challenges in recovering their invested capital.