Ponzi Schemes
This archive displays posts tagged as relevant to Ponzi and pyramid schemes. You may also be interested in the following pages:
July 2, 2021
Roger Nils-Jonas Karlsson of Sweden has been sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to forfeit more than $16 million, including several properties and a resort in Thailand, in one of the largest cryptocurrency Ponzi schemes ever prosecuted in the United States. Starting in 2011 until his arrest in Thailand in 2019, Karlsson induced thousands of investors from around the country and over 45 countries around the world to use cryptocurrency to purchase shares in an entity he called Eastern Metal Securities, by falsely claiming that it was run by award-winning economists and had zero risk of loss. He then misappropriated at least $1.5 million to fund a lavish lifestyle for himself. USAO NDCA; DOJ; SECJune 29, 2021
Accountant Steven Brown, who operated a financial consulting and investment company called Alpha Trade Analytics, Inc., has been sentenced to over 4 years in prison and ordered to pay over $3.3 million in restitution for running a Ponzi scheme that affected 48 victims, many of whom were connected to a nonprofit that provided dance and theater arts education to children. Through his role as an accountant for the nonprofit, Brown received access to high-net-worth individuals, whom he encouraged to invest with Alpha Trade through false promises. When it came time to pay out investors, Brown used funds from new investors, as well as funds embezzled from the nonprofit. USAO CDCAHow will regulators respond to Bitcoin’s price fluctuations?
Posted 05/18/21
May 14, 2021
A consent order was entered against Leonard Cipolla, who fraudulently solicited individuals for a commodity pool operated by his company Tate Street Trading. Cipolla received over $7 million from pool participants and misappropriated more than $5 million of it. The order requires Cipolla to pay restitution of $5.1 million. CFTC (see criminal sentencing)April 27, 2021
The owner of BMC Worldwide, Inc., which did business as Blue Moon Coins, Aaron Michael Scott, has agreed to an order for restitution of $1.4 million to customers who sent him funds for the purpose of purchasing gold and silver based on his false representations that he and BMC were a successful precious metals firm with an inventory of precious metals. In fact, the defendants had no such inventory, and misappropriated customer funds for their own purposes. Scott previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud and was sentenced to four years in prison. CFTCApril 9, 2021
The Alista Group, LLC, and Luis M. Pineda Palacios, a/k/a Luis Pineda, have been ordered to pay civil monetary penalties and restitution in an action initiated by the CFTC alleging that they engaged in precious metals fraud and illegal, off-exchange precious metals sales to retail customers. In addition, the government alleged that defendants misappropriated customer funds to trade on their own account, pay business expenses, and make payments to customers to sought to cash out. Alista was ordered to pay a total of $2.2 million, and Pineda was ordered to pay $448,000. CFTCCatch of the Week: Fraud Behind the Silver Screen
Posted 04/9/21
