Skip to main content

US Charges Indian Citizen in $3.4 Billion Crypto Ponzi Scheme Bitconnect

https://motleybloggers.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/us-charges-indian-citizen-in-3-4-billion-crypto-ponzi-scheme-bitconnect.jpg

The founder of the $3.4 billion crypto Ponzi scheme Bitconnect has been charged in the United States. “If convicted of all counts, he faces a maximum total penalty of 70 years in prison,” said the U.S. Department of Justice.


Bitconnect’s Founder Could Go to Prison for 70 Years


The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Friday that the founder of the global crypto fraud scheme Bitconnect has been charged.


“Bitconnect is an alleged fraudulent cryptocurrency investment platform that reached a peak market capitalization of $3.4 billion,” the DOJ described, adding:


A federal grand jury returned an indictment today charging Satishkumar Kurjibhai Kumbhani, a citizen and resident of India, with multiple crimes for his alleged role in a massive criminal conspiracy involving the cryptocurrency company he founded, Bitconnect.


The 36-year-old from Hemal, India, misled investors that the scheme’s “Lending Program” was able to “generate substantial profits and guaranteed returns” using “Bitconnect Trading Bot” and “Volatility Software,” the justice department detailed.


However, the DOJ noted:


Bitconnect operated as a Ponzi scheme by paying earlier Bitconnect investors with money from later investors. In total, Kumbhani and his co-conspirators obtained approximately $2.4 billion from investors.

The indictment further alleges that Kumbhani abruptly shut down the Lending Program after about one year. He then “directed his network of promoters to fraudulently manipulate and prop up the price of BitConnect’s digital currency, a commodity known as Bitconnect Coin (BCC),” the DOJ explained.


“Kumbhani is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodity price manipulation, operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business, and conspiracy to commit international money laundering,” the Justice Department described, adding:


If convicted of all counts, he faces a maximum total penalty of 70 years in prison.


In November last year, the Justice Department announced that it was selling cryptocurrency worth $56 million seized from the Bitconnect scheme.


What do you think about the DOJ charging Bitconnect’s founder? Let us know in the comments section below.



Origina post from
https://motleybloggers.com/us-charges-indian-citizen-in-3-4-billion-crypto-ponzi-scheme-bitconnect/

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

US Senator Urges Congress to Pass Her Crypto Bill — Claims It Would’ve Prevented FTX Bankruptcy

http://motleybloggers.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/us-senator-urges-congress-to-pass-her-crypto-bill-claims-it-wouldve-prevented-ftx-bankruptcy.jpg U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis believes that the FTX bankruptcy wouldn’t have happened under the Lummis-Gillibrand crypto bill. She stressed: “It’s clearer now than ever before that we need comprehensive regulation in the digital asset space.” Senator Lummis Explains How Her Crypto Bill Would Prevent the FTX Catastrophe U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) explained in a series of tweets Monday why the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX wouldn’t have gone bankrupt had Congress passed her crypto bill. The cryptocurrency trading platform filed for bankruptcy last week. The senator from Wyoming has been a supporter of bitcoin for quite some time. She personally owns BTC and believes that bitcoin is something that the Federal Reserve should hold on its balance sheet. She has said repeatedly that the cryptocurre...

Bitcoin, Ethereum Technical Analysis: ETH Back Under $2,000 as Balenciaga Gains Lose Steam

https://motleybloggers.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/bitcoin-ethereum-technical-analysis-eth-back-under-2000-as-balenciaga-gains-lose-steam.jpg Following strong gains to start the week, BTC once again fell under $30,000, as crypto prices moved lower on Tuesday. The downturn follows up from yesterday’s rally, which came as Balenciaga announced it would be accepting crypto payments. ETH also dropped, falling under $2,000 today. Bitcoin Bitcoin fell under $30,000 on Tuesday, as bears returned to action following a green start to the week. Following a high of $30,547.50 during Monday’s session, BTC /USD fell to an intraday low of $28,975.56 earlier today. Today’s drop saw BTC fall by over 5% in the day, as bullish sentiment following the Balenciaga crypto announcement faded. BTC /USD – Daily Chart Since then, bears have now pushed prices closer to support at $28,800, which is an area where BTC has resided over the past few weeks. Looking at the chart, the 14-da...

P2P Bitcoin Traders in Nigeria Think Outside the Box in the Wake of CBN Restrictions

After the Central Bank of Nigeria issued a directive targeting the country’s cryptocurrency industry, bitcoin and altcoin trade volumes on centralized exchanges immediately plunged. Nevertheless, the new regulations seem to have succeeded in boosting crypto trade volumes on informal markets or on peer-to-peer trading platforms. Nigerian Crypto Traders Get Creative Still, the increasing trades on informal platforms have also led to increased reports of users losing money to con artists. Moreover, with the CBN seemingly eager to see volumes of crypto trades plummet, Nigerian users had to find ingenious but legal ways of getting around the central bank’s imposed restrictions. As shown in one local report , one such legal way is through an app created by one local crypto start-up, Patricia. According to the report, this application is already enabling Nigerian users to buy or sell their crypto assets securely and without running afoul of CBN regulations. Therefore, in this repor...