After my extensive research on the Croatian P2P platform Hive5, which revealed many cross-connections to Juozas Rupšys and the platform Credon, this page will exclusively deal with my recent findings on Credon.
All the information that are covered in this Credon review are based on my own research on the platform. Please make sure to do your own due diligence before investing on any platform. More information can be found in the Disclaimer.
Further analyses of other platforms can be found on my P2P Platform Review page.
Credon Overview
Before we get started, here is a quick summary with the most important information about Credon.
| Started: | August 2021 (Source) |
| Legal Name: | Credon P2P d.o.o. (Source) |
| Headquarter: | Zagreb, Croatia |
| Main Shareholder: | HST KOMUNIKACIJOS, UAB (Link) |
| UBO: | Juozas Rupšys (Link) |
| Regulated: | No |
| CEO: | Not Stated |
| Expected Return: | Not Stated |
| Primary Loan Type: | Consumer Loans |
About Credon
Credon is a P2P marketplace operating in Croatia (Credon P2P d.o.o.), which belongs to Lithuanian-based company HST KOMUNIKACIJOS, UAB.
Credon has attracted attention over the years with many contradictions, inconsistencies and misleading information. It therefore seems unsurprising that, according to the Croatian Business Register, the platform has been entering insolvency in 2023 – although the platform only communicated a temporary maintenance work on the software.
On this page, the events and chronology of Credon will be reviewed as far as possible.
Investors should read this Credon review carefully as Credon maintains very close ties with the newly emerging P2P platform Hive5.
Who owns Credon?
The P2P platform Credon is represented by the company Credon P2P d.o.o. registered in Croatia. According to the Croatian Business Register, the P2P Platform has two beneficiary shareholders:
- Juozas Rupšys: 50% of the shares
- Volodymyr Utenko: 50% of the shares via Capital Invest Group Ltd.
This information coincides with the shareholder breakdown of the Latvian company SIA, Credon, which was the legal entity of the platform at the beginning of Credon’s activities (source).
The Croatian company Credon P2P d.o.o. is in turn managed by the Lithuanian company HST KOMUNIKACIJOS, UAB. Juozas Rupšys is the sole shareholder and holds 100% of the shares in the company.
Juozas Rupšys
According to my research so far, Juozas Rupšys (LinkedIn Profile) is the key figure behind the P2P platform Credon. He holds 50% of the shares in the Croatian Credon P2P d.o.o. and is also the sole shareholder of the parent company HST KOMUNIKACIJOS, UAB.
Juozas is a Lithuanian businessman who in 2013 developed creditonline.eu, a white-label software solution for lenders and P2P platforms. This provides the platforms with a CRM infrastructure in the background with which they can operate a P2P lending business model.
The Croatian-based P2P platform Hive5 also uses Creditonline’s products and services (source from minute 18:39). This seems hardly surprising, since Juozas Rupšys is the godfather of Hive Finance’s majority shareholder Andrius Rupšys.
The P2P platform Credon is most likely named after his own company: Creditonline.
UAB, HST KOMUNIKACIJOS
The Lithuanian”UAB, HST KOMUNIKACIJOS is the parent company of the Croatian Credon P2P d.o.o. According to the Lithuanian register, the company’s financial results are extremely bad.
The revenue, which has never exceeded EUR 15,000 in the last five business years and which has also decreased from year to year, is offset by annual losses in the mid five-digit range.
In this respect, the Lithuanian holding company is more reminiscent of a kind of empty shell, without any recognisable business activities.
Credon Chronology
The following is an attempt to chronicle the developments of Credon. All sections are based on reliable and verifiable sources.
Credon Starts P2P Platform in Latvia
07.06.2021: Lithuanian businessman Juozas Rupšys is registered as a beneficiary partner of the Latvian company Credon, SIA (source).
20.07.2021: The name “Credon” is added to the trademark register of Lithuania (PDF)
05.08.2021: First archived screenshot of the Credon website via Wayback Machine (source). The Latvian company “CREDON, SIA” is listed as the operator of the P2P platform (Company Code: 40103638290; VAT Number: LV40103638290; Address: Ģertrūdes iela 20 – 6A, Rīga, Latvija, LV-1011).
10.08.2021: Ukrainian Volodymyr Utenko is added as a beneficiary shareholder of the Latvian company Credon, SIA.
21.10.2021: Credon is offered for promotion via the affiliate platform “CircleWise”.
04.11.2021: A meeting of the parent company HST KOMUNIKACIJOS is held, chaired by the owner Juozas Rupsys, at which it is decided, among other things, that the company will establish a Credon subsidiary in Croatia and that the Polish citizen Julia Wyżewska will be appointed as CEO of the new Croatian Credon platform. The document is signed by Rasa Urbonaitė, who was the director of HST Komunikacijos at the time (source).
Credon Spreads Misleading Informationen on Licenses
25.11.2021: Via CircleWise, the announcement is made that the Credon P2P platform has been granted a total of four licences by the Central Bank of Lithuania (source).
“I would like to share with you that the CREDON P2P investing platform obtained four licences for crowdfunding and P2P platforms.”
🚩 This information is clearly misleading. On one hand, because the licences were issued to the Lithuanian parent company UAB, HST KOMUNIKACIJOS, on the other hand, because these licences have no influence on the operation of the Credon P2P platform via the Latvian SIA, Credon. The platform therefore promotes itself with licences that have no relevance for the legal scope of the platform.
Latvian Regulator Responds – Credon Removes Information
29.11.2021: The website removes the reference in the footer that the platform is operated by the Latvian company “CREDON, SIA” (source).
03.12.2021: An email I received from the Latvian FCMC Financial Supervisory Authority confirms that Credon’s services may not be carried out without the required licence (source).
“We agree with you that Credon’s activities should be regulated and that Credon is not entitled to offer these investment services without an appropriate licence.”
In addition, the Financial regulator also points out that the licences obtained by the parent company in Lithuania do not have a sufficient basis for the provision of these services and that Credon is spreading misleading information for inexperienced investors.
“As regards the information provided by Credon relating to the licences obtained by the parent company in Lithuania, we agree that this is not a sufficient basis for Credon to provide these services and it would be misleading for inexperienced investors.”
14.12.2021: In the welcome email to a newly registered user, Rasa Urbonaitė is stated in the signature as the CEO of the Credon P2P platform. However, there is no entry in her LinkedIn profile regarding an employment with the platform. Her connection with Juozas Rupšys through the network is visible though (source).
According to my information, Rasa has been the director at the Lithuanian parent company HST KOMUNIKACIJOS, UAB, which is owned by Juozas Rupšys, between 24.01.2012 and 13.05.2022 (source).
Credon Changes Jurisdiction to Croatia
21.05.2022: The website states that the platform is now operated by the Croatian company “Credon P2P d.o.o.” (source). According to the Croatian register extract, Credon P2P d.o.o. still belongs to the Lithuanian company UAB, HST KOMUNIKACIJOS (source).
15.06.2022: The Credon offer is paused / removed via the affiliate platform CircleWise (source).
🚩 According to CircleWise’s statement, the removal of the platform was due to overdue and unpaid invoices.
Hive5 Website Goes Online!
16.08.2022: The website of the Croatian P2P platform Hive5, with shareholder Andrius Rupšys (65% of the shares in the Lithuanian company “UAB Hive Finance”) and Ričardas Vandzinskas (35% of the shares in the Lithuanian company “UAB Hive Finance”) goes online.
The Hive5 P2P platform is built with the help and support of Creditonline’s software infrastructure (by Juozas Rupšys). Discussion from minute 18:39.
Ex-Credon CEO Not Paid for 7 Months
27.01.2023: In court, Credon is ordered to pay ex-CEO Julia Wyżewska seven outstanding monthly salaries amounting to the equivalent of EUR 28,800. The Polish woman, who only joined Credon in November 2021, had not been paid her salary since mid-January 2022. As a result, there are increasing indications that she was primarily used as a straw man for the opening of the Croatian company (source).
🚩 Credon hires a CEO who is no longer paid soon afterwards.
Croatian Commercial Court Opens Bankruptcy Proceedings Against Credon
28.03.2023: The financial agency “FINA” filed a petition for the opening of bankruptcy proceedings against Credon, as payment arrears in the amount of EUR 12,432.92. The Commercial Court in Zagreb then ordered Credon’s authorised persons to submit a notarised list of assets and liabilities (source).
🚩 Bankruptcy proceedings are opened against Credon due to persistent arrears.
29.04.2023: Hive5 Review is published on the blog and via YouTube. Disclosure of the cross-connections between Hive5 and Juozas Rupšys.
Credon Website Goes Offline!
09.05.2023: Credon’s website (credon.com) is offline (source).
🚩 The message: “Frontend disabled, access denied!”
Opening of Insolvency Proceedings Against Credon
26.05.2023: Because Credon’s authorised representatives did not comply with the requests of the Croatian Commercial Court, Credon was classified as insolvent and insolvency proceedings were opened. In addition, Credon was ordered to be deleted from the court register as soon as the corresponding order becomes legally binding (source).
Total Chaos at Credon!
31.05.2023: Investors receive a message from the sender “Cred On” (source) via the e-mail address “credon2020@gmail.com”.
🚩 The platform uses a different name and a new g-mail address as the supposed sender.
🚩 The platform cites maintenance work on the platform’s software as the reason why no money could be withdrawn from Credon since the beginning of 2023.
🚩 The platform offers to transfer investors’ money via the shareholder’s private account. The Credon account has therefore either been blocked or there are no more funds in this account.
16.06.2023: The credon.com website is back online. The following text appears on the main page (source):
„The CREDON platform is working on updating and improving the software system to provide a better and more convenient service for our customers and partners, so now the Credon platform does not register new users and does not accept investments.“
🚩 Due to maintenance work on the software system, new users can no longer register on Credon. In addition, bank transfers are no longer accepted.
01.07.2023: On the website, the following text is highlighted in red (source):
„Please contact us at credon2020@gmail.com and provide information regarding the balance of funds that you have transferred through the credon.com platform and that has not been returned to you yet.“
🚩 Credon no longer seems to ba aware which funds the platform actually manages.
🚩 Existing investors can no longer log-in to the website to check their account balance.
🚩 In the footer, the email address changes from “info@credon.com” to “credon2020@gmail.com”. Credon seems to have lost access to the emails, despite the domain still being available.
Hive5 Lawyer Threatens with Legal Actions
03.07.2023: Statements in the Hive5 review that point to the entanglements between Juozas Rupšys, Credon and Hive5 are being tried to be removed with the help of a lawyer (source).
🚩 Hive5 is trying to remove critical statements of opinion that are related to Juozas Rupšys and Credon.
Websites of All Credon Lenders are Offline!
14.07.2023: The websites of all three Credon lenders are offline and can no longer be reached via the internet. This reinforces the suspicion that the lenders were primarily created to collect money for the Credon platform, without any serious intentions regarding loan financing.
🚩 The websites of all Credon lenders (Pozyczka Pieniedzy, Super Pozyczka and Sando Investment) are offline!
Juozas Rupsys Threatens with Legal Action
26.07.2023: Credon UBO Juozas Rupsys has sent me an email regarding my published videos on Credon. He claims that my content would spread “false and untrue” information. He also criticises me for not having contacted him to comment on the allegations. Finally, he demands that I delete my video about Credon within 24 hours, otherwise he would take legal action against me.
In response, I made him two offers. First: If he informs me of what he considers to be “wrong” information, I will check it again and then correct it if necessary. Secondly: He can speak and explain himself in a recorded interview about the accusations.
To date, Juozas Rupsys has not responded to my email.
🚩 Credon UBO Juozas Rupsys threatens me with legal action via email if the fact-based and source-supported information about Credon is not removed.
🚩 Juozas Rupsys refuses the offer to comment on the allegations in a public discourse.
YouTube Deletes Videos on Credon and Hive5
27.07.2023: Due to anonymous privacy complaints, YouTube has removed the following two videos from my channel “Has this P2P platform lost its mind? ❌ Lawyer sends me mail!” (6,200 views until blocked) and “Scam or badly made P2P platform? ❌ Credon analysis! ❌ What role does Hive5 play?” (2,200 views until blocked). The deletion took place in 26, respectively 28 hours after the complaint was filed. YouTube did not communicate any reasons as to why and which content had violated data protection. To date, the video platform has not responded to the appeal.
Ex-Credon CEO Speaks Out!
29.07.2023: Ex-Credon CEO Julia Wyzewska has spoken out in an interview about the events during her time at Credon. In our conversation, she talks about what happened behind the scenes at Credon, Juozas Rupsys, why she has not received any salary to date (approx. EUR 30,000), contact with lenders and whether she believes Credon tried to run a serious company (source).
To Be Continued…
Conclusion
Here are the most important findings of my Credon investigations to date:
- Juozas Rupšys co-founded both the Latvian SIA Credon and the Croatian Credon P2P d.o.o. He owns both companies through his Lithuanian parent company, UAB, HST KOMUNIKACIJOS.
- Credon manipulated investors with misleading and false information regarding the obtaining of licences and the regulation of the P2P platform.
- Due to the lack of statistics, there is no insight as to how much money has been invested with Credon and how high the potential loss for investors is.
- According to the Croatian court, Credon owes its ex-CEO Julia Wyżewska the equivalent of EUR 28,000 in salary payments.
- Insolvency proceedings have been initiated against Credon due to continuing liabilities.
- Hive5 is using legal threats, trying to stop investigations on Juozas Rupšys and his connections to the Hive5 P2P platform.
- The websites of all three Credon lenders are offline.
- Juozas Rupšys threatens me via email with legal actions if I don’t remove my YouTube video about Credon within 24 hours.
- Juozas Rupšys turned down my offer to publicly speak about the allegations regarding Credon.
Hi, ich bin Denny! Seit Januar 2019 schreibe ich auf diesem Blog über meine Erfahrungen beim Investieren in P2P Kredite. Meine Analysen sollen Privatanlegern dabei helfen reflektierte und gut informierte Anlageentscheidungen treffen zu können. Dafür schaue ich mir die Risikoprofile der einzelnen P2P Plattformen an, hinterfrage deren Entwicklungen, teile meine persönlichen Einschätzungen und beobachte übergeordnete Trends aus der Welt des Crowdlendings.
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