One of the people who cofounded and led NAGA has been convicted in one of Germany's largest financial scandals. In 2024 a German court sentenced Yasin Qureshi, a NAGA cofounder and its former chief executive, to three years and two months in prison for serious tax evasion connected to the Cum Ex affair. The conduct at issue predates NAGA and relates to his earlier role at another firm, but the connection to a broker's founder is a matter of legitimate public interest.
Qureshi cofounded NAGA in 2015 and served as chief executive of the group until April 2019, when he left the company. Before NAGA, he had been chief executive of Varengold Bank. It was in that earlier capacity that the conduct behind the conviction took place. The Cologne prosecutor accused him of involvement in four Cum Ex transactions in 2010 and 2011, through which the German treasury was defrauded of roughly 93 million euro in unjustified tax refunds. In 2024 the Bonn Regional Court convicted him of serious tax evasion and imposed the custodial sentence.
What Cum Ex Was
The Cum Ex scandal is one of the most damaging financial frauds in modern German history. In simplified terms, it involved trading shares around their dividend date in a way engineered to claim refunds of a tax that had only been paid once, or not at all, so that the state paid out the same money more than once. German courts have ruled the practice unlawful, and prosecutors have pursued bankers, traders and advisers across the industry. The sums lost to the treasury run into billions of euro, which is why the courts have handed down real prison sentences.
It is important to be fair and precise about the boundaries of this case. The conviction concerns Qureshi's conduct at Varengold Bank in 2010 and 2011, years before NAGA existed. NAGA itself is not accused of involvement in Cum Ex, and Qureshi left the company in 2019. Nothing here is a finding against NAGA's brokerage or its current management. What it is, is a serious criminal conviction of a person who founded and ran the broker, over conduct in his prior career.
Why a Founder Record Belongs in the Picture
The reason this matters to a prospective client is due diligence, not guilt by association. When people decide whether to trust a broker, the character and history of the people who built and led it are legitimately part of the assessment. A cofounder and former chief executive being convicted of serious tax evasion in a landmark fraud scandal is exactly the kind of fact a careful person would want to know when weighing the firm, even where, as here, the conduct sits outside the company itself and in the past.
None of this changes NAGA's current regulatory status, and it would be wrong to imply that it does. But adverse media on a broker fairly includes the documented history of its founders, stated accurately and in context. Yasin Qureshi cofounded and led NAGA, he left in 2019, and he was later convicted and sentenced to prison over Cum Ex conduct from his earlier role at Varengold Bank. Those are the facts, they are on the public record, and a diligent client is entitled to weigh them alongside everything else.
BestForex.io View
This Is a Case That Has to Be Reported Carefully, Because Fairness Is the Whole Point
Yasin Qureshi cofounded NAGA and ran it until 2019, and in 2024 a German court sentenced him to three years and two months in prison for serious tax evasion in the Cum Ex scandal. But the conduct was at Varengold Bank in 2010 and 2011, before NAGA existed, and NAGA itself is not accused of anything in the affair. So this is not a finding against the broker.
It is a serious criminal conviction of a person who founded and led it, over his earlier career.
For anyone doing real due diligence on a firm, the history of the people who built it is fair to weigh, provided it is stated accurately and in context. Here it is.
About the Company
About NAGA
Court
Bonn Regional Court (Germany)
Conviction
Serious Tax Evasion, Cum Ex
Sentence
3 years 2 months imprisonment
Conduct Predates NAGA
Yes — Varengold Bank, 2010–2011
NAGA Group AG is a Hamburg-based, Frankfurt-listed financial technology company. It was cofounded in 2015 by Yasin Qureshi, who served as chief executive until he left in April 2019. In 2024 the Bonn Regional Court sentenced him to three years and two months in prison for serious tax evasion connected to Cum Ex transactions in 2010 and 2011 during his time at Varengold Bank — conduct that predates NAGA and does not implicate the company itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was NAGA involved in the Cum Ex scandal?
No. The Cum Ex conduct concerned Yasin Qureshi's earlier role at Varengold Bank in 2010 and 2011, before NAGA existed. NAGA itself is not accused of involvement, and Qureshi left the company in 2019.
Who is Yasin Qureshi?
He cofounded NAGA in 2015 and was its chief executive until April 2019. Before NAGA he led Varengold Bank, where the conduct behind his conviction took place.
What was Qureshi convicted of?
In 2024 the Bonn Regional Court sentenced him to three years and two months in prison for serious tax evasion connected to four Cum Ex transactions in 2010 and 2011, which defrauded the German treasury of roughly 93 million euro.
Does this affect NAGA clients today?
It does not change NAGA's current regulatory status. It is background about a founder who left in 2019, offered as context for due diligence. Compare brokers in our Best Forex Brokers in 2026 ranking.
Editor's note & source: Factual points drawn from Börsen-Zeitung and court reporting on the Bonn proceedings. This article is not legal advice. Last updated: 9 August 2026.