I was the first one in 2018 to publicly sound the alarm on Ritossa - four and a half years ago:

And in this email I will share with you who really started the first forensic work on the Ritossa case.

So, I TOOK A STAND in June 2018 - some people got the message, some didn't or didn't want to. I was subsequently bullied by Ritossa and his lawyer to take this little article down ("Cease & Desist", "forced to commence a lawsuit against you in order to stop the statements").

Stop the statements? Never! Why should I? So I did not give in. And, of course, "Sir" Anthony Ritossa didn't have a case and ducked.

After my article came out in 2018, as I said, some people got the hidden message. Others called me saying they were just googling "Anthony Ritossa Fraud" (because they thought it must be), and my article came up. And they decided to contact me to know more and talk to me. I also shared my negative experiences with Ritossa personally to a few people in detail by email, and some of them still continued to go this his events! I just couldn't believe it...

My Macedonian Wife

After having gotten to know Ritossa a bit better, things did not add up. He started to lie. And the Ritossa olive oil story smelled. I just couldn't believe it, and so I decided to dig into it.

My wife was born in Macedonia, in the old and now gone Yugoslav Republic. Hence, she is of that generation that still speaks a multitude of Slavic languages: Macedonian, Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian, and even, some Russian. And, yes, German and English too...

So I asked her for help. The first thing we found was the U.S. Customs Records for Ritossa Olive Oil: - download PDF.

With that we had identified MIH, the Croatian cooperative in Poreč that shipped the olive oil. But was it "Ritossa" olive oil? With my wife speaking the language, we called them, spoke to their director, and found out quickly that Ritossa was buying the olives "on the market", that he "puts his (Ritossa) label on them", "does not own a single olive grove", and that he had "heard the police was looking for Ritossa in Croatia and that he fled the country". We just spoke to the person who bottled, labeled and shipped the "Ritossa" oil.

A different story from Ritossa's who boasts a "distillation of six hundred years of history — of a grove, a family and a region. The gnarled roots of the Ritossa olive groves have persevered through war and natural disasters, through changes of climate and country, and under the rule of warrior princes, wealthy merchant kings and modern despots."

Now we knew. The whole "Ritossa Olive Oil" and his "Ritossa Family Office" were completely fabricated. He created himself a new identity. FRAUD: An act of deceiving or misrepresenting; A person who is not what he or she pretends to be. And people kept falling for it in legions, until today (just have a look at Ritossa's social media stream on LinkedIn). We went out to "the press". And we told this to everyone who asked and bothered to listen.

The Call that Stood Out

Following my 2018 article, one call stood out, it was from one of Ritossa's previous sponsors who was UPSET how venerable ECONOMIST highlighted Ritossa's conferences, about which he had first hand experience of being a fraud: https://www.economist.com/briefing/2018/12/15/
family-offices-become-financial-titans

He had already contacted the Economist reporter and pitched me into the calls. I shared a lot of information with the reporter, contact information to MIH, etc. We did more calls. But, in the end, that initiative didn't go any where:

I am therefore praising the amazing forensic work by Vanity Fair (https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2022/10/inside-wealth-conference-con-man-anthony-ritossas-wild-web-of-lies) and the author. Before going into journalism, Adam Ciralsky worked for the Central Intelligence Agency and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He is also a lawyer. Of all, he's the one who took up our cues, spoke to MIH and others, and unearthed much more in the process.

The Fake Family Office website

This page has been around since December 2020 (on different URLs) https://www.fake-ritossa-family-summits.org/ (MUST READ - I have no idea who put it up) but Ritossa still managed to continue to this day (his 20th summit concluded this week in Dubai), it just blows my mind...

It looks like that there's, at least, no further "Ritossa Summit" in Monaco after Prince Albert was forced to make a statement about it: https://news.mc/2022/10/19/ritossa-family-office-conman-exposed-at-last/

But wait, there's more: https://justdiligence.com/blog-post-ritossa-summit.html (another MUST READ).

"But you have to give him credit!"

Even AFTER ALL OF THIS, some people still express sympathy for Ritossa. A lady - from Dubai, ironically, where “His Lordship” Ritossa took residence after jail time in Croatia, the UK and with an US warrant on him - told me on a Zoom call: "Well, I know what it takes to run events, you have to give him credit for that...!"

No, I don't. SINCE 2018 I told everyone who took the effort to check with me that I found Ritossa to be a "bully, liar and a jerk", and he turned out even worse than that.

I still believe in the old world values of authenticity, transparency, fairness and truth.

And if, after all of this, someone still thinks I have to give "Sir" Ritossa credit for something (at best, his criminal energy) - well, that's another red flag right there to question someone's values.

People still discuss if the Vanity Fair article is the end or not of Ritossa as a grand conferencier and socialite in Dubai where he (befitting his rank), now also has a foundation:

https://www.difc.ae/public-register/sir-anthony-ritossa-foundation/

As they say, watch this space... ;-)

With my very best wishes - feel free to reach out any time if I can help.

Matthias