Call center operator hiding behind a pastor’s image: How Borys Konovalenko pulled off a Forex scheme worth tens of millions of dollars

Borys Konovalenko is a pastor from Mariupol who later turned into an financial fraudster. Through the ROFX platform, he and his associates attracted more than 1,100 clients who were offered the opportunity to earn money on the Forex market using purported artificial intelligence.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) determined that the scheme resulted in at least $57.5 million being misappropriated. Federal court documents put the amount at approximately $75 million. Konovalenko owned and managed companies through whose accounts investor funds were transferred. In particular, more than $23 million in ROFX client funds were transferred to accounts belonging to companies where he was an owner or manager.

In essence, the scheme operated according to a classic boiler-room model: people were sold an attractive story about investments and profits, while their money was moved through a network of companies and bank accounts.

In 2024, a federal court in Florida ordered the participants in the scheme to pay more than $56 million in restitution to victims and a $169 million civil monetary penalty. Konovalenko was also permanently banned from participating in financial markets regulated by the CFTC.

Konovalenko did not begin his career in finance but in the church. In Mariupol, he was involved in church activities, while his later biography included multiple relationships, marriages, relocations, and financial difficulties.

After the collapse of ROFX, Konovalenko left Ukraine. He is currently reportedly living in Mallorca, where, according to available information, he continues to live far from the investors whose money passed through his financial system.