CLEVELAND โ The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office and the Cleveland Secret Service Field Office unsealed an indictment in a major cryptocurrency scam Thursday.
Three individuals and a business are charged with engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity among various other charges for operating cryptocurrency kiosks in Northeast Ohio. In all, 30 law enforcement offices were involved in the investigation.
A Cuyahoga County grand jury returned an indictment charging S and P Solutions, doing business as Bitcoin of America, founder Sonny Meraban, 45, his father and company manager Sonny Meraban, 75, and his lawyer William Suriano, 69.
All are charged with one count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, one count of conspiracy, eight counts of money laundering, eight counts of receiving stolen property, 33 counts of violation of license requirements, five counts of tampering with records, a possession of criminal tools charge and a tax charge.
On Wednesday, law enforcement agencies seized 52 Bitcoin of America ATMs at most neighborhood gas stations in Lorain and Cuyahoga counties.
Police arrested Sonny Meraban at his home in Miami and the other two men near the Chicago area.
In 2021, Bitcoin of America's earnings from cash deposits in Ohio were more than $3.5 million, according to researchers. BOA operates more than 2,600 cryptocurrency ATMs in 35 states and is the fourth largest cryptocurrency ATM in the country.
Blaine Forschen, the special agent in charge of the United States Secret Service, said that shortly after Bitcoin of America ATMs began appearing in Ohio, complaints poured in.
"The investigation revealed that, since 2018, Bitcoin of America has evaded numerous regulatory safeguards and financial compliance requirements in Ohio by misrepresenting the company's role in transferring funds using cryptocurrency," it said. โIt was the way for money to go from victims to scammers, without regulation or control.โ
Investigators revealed that the first problem is that ATMs are not properly licensed in Ohio.
โWe are dealing with a new cryptocurrency industry, but we are not dealing with new laws,โ said Andrew Rogalski, supervisor of economic crimes at the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office. โCryptocurrency is money. if you are a money transmitter in the state of Ohio, you must have a license. Bitcoin of America does not have a license.โ
Forschen added that the company misrepresented its money transfer capabilities to avoid Ohio regulators, and because of the lack of regulations, BOA became attractive to scammers.
โDue to its lack of anti-money laundering safeguards, criminals around the world have used the company to receive payments from victims and to launder and obtain funds for criminals, both in the US and around the world. . Scam artists, robocallers and international organized crime groups have taken advantage of the company's lack of compliance and licensing,โ he said.
He added that the victims unknowingly sent money to organized crime groups in Russia and other foreign countries.
The researchers claimed that Bitcoin of America takes 20% of each transaction without disclosing it to users beforehand.
โMoney coming into the Bitcoin of America machine is deposited into the company expense account, whether it is a legitimate transaction or a illegitimate transaction, Bitcoin of America retains 20% as profit,โ Rogalski said.
He added that even when the company had users call and report their money gone, BOA never returned its own 20% profit.
The indictment shows that eight victims in Northeast Ohio were scammed out of tens of thousands.
But Cuyahoga County Attorney Michael O'Malley said he is confident there are many more victims and encourages anyone who believes they have been scammed to contact their local police department and file a report with the Federal Commission. trade. website.
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