Chamber of Digital Commerce Founder and CEO Perianne Boring says the lawmaker's "false and misleading statements" should be investigated in "The Claman Countdown."
He increasing prevalence of cryptocurrencies It has also led to more frequent and elaborate cryptocurrency scams over the years.
One such scam by a fraudulent cryptocurrency company called Centra Tech is now the subject of an investigation. new netflix movie called "Bitconned", which will launch on January 1.
"Ray Trapani had always wanted to be a criminal, even as a child," reads a description of the film. "In 2017, amid the economic frenzy of the bitcoin boom, there was no better place for scammers than cryptocurrencies. So when a friend of Ray's approached him with the idea of โโcreating a cryptocurrency debit card, Trapani jumped at the chance. opportunity. There was only one problem: I had no idea how to do it."
Centra Tech is one of many recent, high-profile crypto scams that have resulted in millions of dollars and billions of dollars in losses for customers around the world.
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Here are some of the most infamous cryptocurrency fraud schemes in history:
technical Center
Lead co-founder Sohrab Sharma, along with Robert Farkas and Trapani, founded Centra Tech in 2017. The company promoted cryptocurrency financial products, including a so-called cryptocurrency debit card that they called the โCentra Card.โ
The company led customers to believe that they could use the card to make payments at establishments that accepted Visa or Mastercard payments. They also convinced investors to purchase unregistered securities in the form of digital currencies or "Centra Tokens," according to the Department of Justice.
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The founders built Centra Tech based on the lie that their made-up founder, "Michael Edwards," had over 20 years of banking experience and a master's degree from Harvard. They also perpetuated further lies "that Centra Tech had formed partnerships with Bancorp, Visa and Mastercard to issue Centra cards licensed by Visa or Mastercard" and "that Centra Tech had money transfer licenses and other licenses in 38 states, among other claims "the DOJ said. he said in a press release.
| Heart | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CURRENCY | COINBASE GLOBAL INC. | 173.92 | -12.44 | -6.68% |
| RIOT | RIOT PLATFORMS | 15.47 | -2.13 | -12.10% |
| FOR HIM | MORE ALLร INC. | 27.69 | -0.78 | -2.74% |
| MARA | DIGITAL MARATHON | 23.49 | -4.62 | -16.44% |
The three co-founders have since been convicted and sentenced to prison, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
โSohrab Sharma led a scheme to deceive investors by falsely claiming that the startup he co-founded had developed cutting-edge cryptocurrency-related financial products and was fully operational,โ said Ilan T. Graff, an American lawyer, in a 2021 deposition. "In reality, Sharma's most notable inventions were the fake executives, fake business partnerships, and fake licenses that he and his accomplices promoted to trick victims into handing over tens of millions of dollars."
ftx
FTX, a fraudulent and bankrupt cryptocurrency company, made national news this year when its founder Sam Bankman-Fried was indicted in February and tried in Manhattan Federal Court.
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried appears in federal court during his fraud trial in Manhattan, New York, on October 26, 2023. (Jane Rosenberg/Fox News)
In November, the court found Bankman-Fried guilty of defrauding investors, customers and lenders who participated in his collapsed crypto empire in one of two criminal trials he faced.
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The FTX crash wiped out around $1 billion in customer funds.
"Sam Bankman-Fried perpetrated one of the largest financial frauds in American history."
Bankman-Fried was charged with two counts of wire fraud and five counts of conspiracy. Prosecutors argued that the 31-year-old FTX founder and his sister hedge fund, Alameda Research, misappropriated and embezzled billions of dollars in FTX client deposits, conspiring to deceive investors and instructing others. executives of their companies to do the same.
Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder of FTX Cryptocurrency Derivatives Exchange, arrives at court in New York on January 3, 2023. (Stephanie Keith/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
"The cryptocurrency industry may be new. The actors, like Sam Bankman-Fried, may be new. But this type of corruption is as old as time," said US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams. , after the verdict was announced. .
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The FTX founder, who amassed an estimated net worth of $26 billion before his company filed for bankruptcy last year, also testified during his own trial. He admitted to making mistakes but maintained his innocence and said he didn't let anyone down.
BitConnect Ponzi Scheme
The FTX scam has often been compared to the BitConnect Ponzi scheme.
BitConnect, which has since collapsed, was a fraudulent cryptocurrency investment company that at one point reached a peak market capitalization of $3.4 billion, according to the Department of Justice.
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TO San Diego Federal Grand Jury accused the company's founder, Satish Kumbhani of India, last year. Kumbhani is alleged to have misled investors about the company's "lending program," which actually operated as a Ponzi scheme by paying BitConnect's early investors with funds from newer investors.
Prosecutors say Kumbhani and his accomplices received a total of $2.4 billion from BitConnect investors.
"This indictment alleges a massive cryptocurrency scheme that defrauded investors of more than $2 billion."
"As cryptocurrencies gain popularity and attract investors around the world, alleged fraudsters like Kumbhani are using increasingly complex schemes to defraud investors, often stealing millions of dollars," the special agent said in a statement. by Ryan L. Korner, IRS Criminal Investigation Los Angeles Field Office. 2022 statement announcing the indictment against Kumbhani.
OneCoin and the 'Cryptoqueen'
Ruja Ignatova, a bulgarian woman Known as the "Cryptoqueen," she is accused of defrauding millions of investors out of an estimated $4 billion through her fraudulent cryptocurrency company, OneCoin, starting in 2014.
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Ignatova is on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list. Authorities believe she may have enlisted the help of armed guards or associates and that she may have altered her appearance after traveling to Athens, Greece, in 2017. Her co-founder, Karl Sebastian Greenwood, was sentenced to 20 years. in September.
Ruja Ignatova, a Bulgarian woman known as the "Cryptoqueen," is accused of defrauding millions of investors out of an estimated $4 billion through her fraudulent cryptocurrency company, OneCoin, starting in 2014. (FBI/Fox News)
OneCoin marketed a fraudulent cryptocurrency to unsuspecting investors around the world.
"As founder and leader of OneCoin, Karl Sebastian Greenwood operated one of the largest fraud schemes ever perpetrated. Greenwood and his co-conspirators, including fugitive Ruja Ignatova, defrauded unsuspecting victims of billions of dollars with promises of a 'financial revolution' and claims that OneCoin would be the 'Bitcoin killer,'" Damian Williams said in a September statement.
"In fact, OneCoins were worthless and investors were left with nothing, while Greenwood lined his pockets with over $300 million."
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Ignatova, who faces charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and securities fraud, allegedly told investors to transfer funds to her OneCoin accounts to purchase OneCoin bundles, according to the Department of Justice.
Bitclub Network
Similarly, BitClub Network was a $722 million cryptocurrency fraud scheme "that solicited money from investors in exchange for shares of purported cryptocurrency mining pools and rewarded investors for recruiting new investors to the scheme" between 2014. and 2019, according to the Department of Justice.
Several people, including BitClub Network creator Matthew Brent Goettsche and Silviu Catalin Balaci, Russ Albert Medlin, Jobadiah Sinclair Weeks, Joseph Frank Abel and Gordon Brad Beckstead, have been charged in connection with the scheme.
A representation of bitcoin on June 23, 2017. (Benoit Tessier/File photo/Reuters Photos)
Goettsche, Balaci, Abel and Weeks were released on bail in 2020 and await their sentencing hearings.
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โThe indictment outlines the defendantsโ use of the complex world of cryptocurrency to take advantage of unsuspecting investors,โ U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said in a 2019 statement. โWhat they allegedly did amounts to little more than a modern High-tech Ponzi scheme that defrauded victims of hundreds of millions of dollars. Work with our law enforcement partners here and across the country, we will ensure that these fraudsters are held accountable for their crimes."
The suspects spent their money "lavishly" while defrauding investors, whom Goettsche described as "fools" and "sheep." He also said that he was "building this entire model on the backs of idiots," according to the Justice Department.
Fox News' Breck Dumas contributed to this report.
