Bitcoin Ponzi Scheme Perpetrator Fined $40 Million
A Texas man charged with defrauding consumers through an illicit investment vehicle has been ordered to pay more than $40m in fines by a federal judge. The Thursday ruling brought to close a case launched last July that drew headlines at a time when many in the mainstream US media were only first learning about bitcoin and its related technology. Trendon Shavers, the founder and operator of Bitcoin Savings and Trust (BTCST) had reportedly accrued more than 700,000 BTC in customer funds, worth roughly $64m at the time of his arrest. US Magistrate Judge Amos Mazzant wrote: "The uncontested....
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Bitcoin Ponzi scheme perpetrator Trendon Shavers has plead guilty to securities fraud, a decision that reverses plea of not guilty submitted in March. Shavers faced up to 20 years in prison for defrauding investors out of an estimated $4.5m while operating Bitcoin Savings & Trust (BS&T). The investment scheme, which promised investors 7% returns on bitcoin market arbitrage activity in 2011 and 2012, became the object of a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) inquiry in July 2013. According to a report by Bloomberg, Shavers will now serve anywhere from 33 months to 41 months in....
This particular Ponzi Scheme in Vietnam will give Bitcoin a bad reputation in the country. Cryptocurrency is not regulated by the banks, and the local government is not too keen on Bitcoin either. Ever since the inception of Bitcoin, there have been individuals and companies trying to discredit cryptocurrency. Some of them even go as far as setting up deliberate Ponzi Schemes to defraud Bitcoin investors. Such a scheme seems to be on the brink of collapse in Vietnam. Hundreds of people have been burned by this pyramid scheme, which seemed to rely on an MLM structure. It is not the first....
Trendon Shavers, the man who the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said was running a bitcoin Ponzi scheme, has been ordered to pay a $40 million dollar fine by U. S. Magistrate Judge Amos L. Mazzant for his founding of the "Bitcoin Savings and Trust (BTCST)" organization, which was nothing more than a scam for its users. From a complaint filed by the SEC last year (as noted by Inside Bitcoins): From at least September 2011 to September 2012, Shavers, operating under the Internet name "pirateat40," offered and sold BTCST investments over the Internet, raising more than 700,000 BTC....
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged four founders and seven promoters of Forsage, which it described as “a fraudulent crypto pyramid and Ponzi scheme.” The scheme allegedly raised more than $300 million from millions of retail investors worldwide, including in the U.S. SEC Takes Action Against Forsage Crypto Scheme The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced Monday that it has “charged 11 individuals for their roles in creating and promoting Forsage, a fraudulent crypto pyramid and Ponzi scheme.” The securities....
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged four people for their roles in a global cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme that duped more than 100,000 investors worldwide. The scheme raised more than $295 million in bitcoin. SEC Says ‘Trade Coin Club’ Is a Crypto Ponzi Scheme The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced charges against four people for their roles in a fraudulent crypto Ponzi scheme Friday. Douver Torres Braga, Joff Paradise, Keleionalani Akana Taylor, and Jonathan Tetreault were allegedly involved in Trade Coin Club, “a fraudulent....