An ACCC spokesperson stated: The ‘Hope Business’ app is a scam. Victims were encouraged to transfer funds in a Ponzi scheme. They were initially able to withdraw funds which encouraged them to recommend the application to family and friends, but they were subsequently unable to access their money. The same spokesperson then stressed that anyone…
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SEC’s complaint further reveals that Maroney misused investor money by making payments to other entities unrelated to the supposed purpose of the offerings and that he fraudulently used investor funds to make monthly interest payments and other payouts to investors in a classic Ponzi scheme manner. Eric I. Bustillo, Director of the SEC's Miami Regional…
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The CFTC found that since December 2017, Saffron has fraudulently solicited around $15,815,967 worth of Bitcoin and U.S. dollars from 179 investors to trade off-exchange binary options on forex and cryptocurrency pairs, among other things. Saffron created Circle Society and used it to carry out his fraudulent activity. The CFTC has stated that Saffron and…
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Horwitz and 1inMM allegedly promised investors more than 35% in returns and for years paid presumed returns on earlier investments with money from new investments. The SEC claims that Horwitz misappropriated investor funds for his personal use. He purchased a multi-million-dollar home, trips to Las Vegas, and to paid a celebrity interior designer. Michele Wein…
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He allegedly engaged in various efforts to conceal his misconduct – he misrepresenting his trading profitability and the amount of assets he had under management, misappropriated customer funds, and issuing false performance statements. The complaint stated that Spence eventually admitted to his customers that he had engaged in “lies and deceit.” Acting Director of Enforcement…
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He claimed that USFIA extracted amber and other gemstones from non-existent mines it “owned” in the United States, the Dominican Republic, Argentina and Mexico. He ultimately managed to obtain $147 million from 72,000 victims spread globally. The Department of Justice described USFIA as a “multi-level marketing program” which compensated investors for recruiting other investors with…
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The order stems from a complaint against VCI filed on 14 February 2020. The court established that the defendants fraudulently solicited over 72 clients to invest in commodity pools that purportedly trade in forex and digital assets, including bitcoin, only to then misappropriate the money. Further, the court uncovered that the defendants lured their clients…
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According to the US watchdog, from February 2013 to present, the defendants accepted $4.75 million from more than 150 victims. Avinash Singh falsely claimed to be a successful commodities trader in order to solicit potential victims to participate in Highrise. Cologero, Hemraj Singh and Rosseau also misrepresented the profits the commodity pool had generated and…
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The complaints allege that between 2017 and 2020, approximately 1,200 contributed around $28 million the 1st Million Pool. The defendants misappropriated around $7 million of those and used them to buy expensive cars, personal travel and living and business expenses. Kelly L. Gibson, Director of the SEC’s Philadelphia Regional Office said: As alleged in our…
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The "people's currency" is yet again experiencing lows and this time the reason may be a very serious one. It's usually market sentiment and recent price decreases have been less than volatile, as Bitcoin was trading around $8,000. What is even more concerning is that Bitcoin was noting new highs recently, "assuring" investors of brighter…
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