The U.S. Department of Justice announced its indictment against Satish Kumbhani, the founder of defunct cryptocurrency platform BitConnect on charges of ‘orchestrating a global Ponzi scheme’ worth $2.4 billion, believed to be the largest cryptocurrency fraud ever. US Justice Department Indicts BitConnect Founder In an official press release, the Justice Department said that Satish Kumbhani had been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, commodity price manipulation, operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business, and committing international money laundering. All the charges have been associated with the operation of BitConnect crypto platform. The service was sold as a lending program that ultimately proved to be a pyramid business of global dimensions, ranking 20th in the list of cryptocurrencies with the most market capitalization. “This indictment alleges a massive cryptocurrency scheme that defrauded investors of more than $2 billion. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners are committed to pursuing justice for victims of cryptocurrency fraud,” U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman said in a statement. Crypto Frauds Draw Scrutiny from Regulators The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DoJ) has been actively hunting down cryptocurrency-related cases recently. Just this week, BitMEX co-founders Delo and Hayes pleaded guilty to violating the U.S Bank Secrecy Act. Under the terms of their plea agreements, the co-founders have agreed to pay a $10 million criminal fine ‘representing pecuniary gain derived from the offense.; Similarly, crypto lending firm BlockFi also paid a $100 million penalty in an SEC settlement this month.
The post BitConnect Founder Indicated Over $2.4B Crypto Fraud appeared first on Cryptoknowmics-Crypto News and Media Platform.
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