According to a late Tuesday filing from her lawyers, Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, should be sentenced to time served and supervised release. The request comes ahead of her scheduled sentencing on September 24, 2024, for her involvement in the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX. Extraordinary Cooperation In the Tuesday filing,...Read More
GS Partners, a European-based entity involved in multiple cryptocurrency investment schemes, has agreed to refund all funds to investors in a settlement with five U.S. states. The agreement will see the firm pay back 100% of investor deposits in exchange for the dismissal of all civil claims and ongoing investigations. Investors Will Get Full Refunds...Read More
Three Arrows Capital (3AC), the defunct crypto hedge fund, has its liquidators pursuing a $1.3 billion lawsuit against TerraForm Labs, the bankrupt digital assets company co-founded by Do Kwon. This legal action is part of ongoing efforts to recover funds for 3AC’s creditors following the fund’s collapse. 3AC Liquidators Pursue TerraForm Labs The Three Arrows...Read More
On July 18, Judge Eric Vitaliano sentenced the founder of the Bitzlato cryptocurrency exchange to 18 months, the time he had already served, for running an unlicensed money-transmitting business. Anatoly Legkodymov pleaded guilty last year to running an operation that facilitated the concealment of over $700 million in proceeds from illegal gambling and drug transactions....Read More
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that BitMEX has pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). According to newly published court documents, the exchange failed to implement an adequate know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) program from September 2015 to September 2020. BitMEX’s Guilty Plea During this period, the Commodity...Read More
Two men have been sentenced for manipulating the price of Hydrogen Technology’s cryptocurrency, HYDRO, and scheming to defraud investors. This case marks the first time a jury in a federal criminal trial has classified a cryptocurrency as a security and found that price manipulation of cryptocurrency constitutes securities fraud. $300M HYDRO Crypto Fraud Scheme Court...Read More
Logan Paul has filed a defamation lawsuit against YouTuber Stephen Findeisen, known as Coffeezilla, over a series of videos released in 2022 about the former’s failed CryptoZoo NFT project. The suit alleges that Findeisen “maliciously and repeatedly” made false statements accusing Paul of organizing a scam through CryptoZoo. “Defamatory Falsehoods” The court documents state, “Paul...Read More
Juan Tacuri, 46, of Greenacres, Florida, a senior promoter behind the Forcount cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in the Southern District of New York. The scheme, which reaped $8.4 million from primarily Spanish-speaking investors, has been described as one of the more shocking frauds targeting vulnerable communities. Forcount...Read More
85-year-old former attorney David Kagel has admitted guilt in a conspiracy to operate a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme, defrauding victims of over $9.5 million. Once a legal authority figure in Beverly Hills, California, Kagel now faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for his involvement in the Ponzi scheme. Crypto Ponzi Scheme Kagel stood...Read More
Rashawn Russell, a former investment banker, has been sentenced to 41 months in jail for wire fraud related to a cryptocurrency and access device fraud. Russell’s sentencing took place at the Eastern New York District Court in Brooklyn after his September 2023 guilty plea. Former Banker’s $1.5 Million Crypto Fraud Prosecutors detailed that Russell began...Read More
The U.S. District Court for the District of Utah has dismissed the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) case against Digital Licensing, operating under the name Debt Box. The judge has also ordered the SEC to pay approximately $1.8 million in attorney and receivership fees. SEC Ordered to Pay $1.8 Million in Fees In a post...Read More
A Taiwanese national has been charged with running Incognito Market, a darknet drug bazaar, and arrested after authorities tracked the platform’s transactions. The platform has transacted more than $100 million in crypto through selling illegal narcotics such as fentanyl. Incognito Market Founder Arrested and Charged On May 18, U.S. authorities arrested Rui-Siang Lin, 23, operating...Read More
On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a unanimous decision against Coinbase Inc. (COIN), addressing an arbitration dispute that emerged from the cryptocurrency exchange’s 2021 Dogecoin (DOGE) sweepstakes. The 9-0 ruling clarified that a court must determine which legal agreement holds precedence when parties are governed by multiple contracts. Supreme Court Upholds Lower Court’s Authority...Read More
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is being relocated to a new prison, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. A representative for Bankman-Fried confirmed the move, though the exact destination remains undisclosed. Sam Bankman-Fried Likely Moving to California Sources familiar with the situation suggest that Bankman-Fried is likely...Read More
Federal prosecutors are calling for a prison sentence of five to seven years for former FTX executive Ryan Salame, who has been implicated in its multibillion-dollar collapse. His defense team asserts that his punishment should reflect his role in exposing the fraud, pushing for a lighter sentence of no more than 18 months. Salame’s Defense...Read More
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane approved Genesis Global’s Chapter 11 liquidation plan on Friday, enabling the bankrupt cryptocurrency lender to return approximately $3 billion in cash and crypto to its creditors. This ruling means that its parent company, Digital Currency Group (DCG), will not recover anything from the bankruptcy proceedings. DCG Left with No Recovery...Read More
Founder and former CEO of Digitex Futures Exchange, Adam Todd, has pleaded guilty to willingly leading the firm to fail to establish an Anti-Money Laundering (AML) program. Notably, the former CEO’s plea was issued in a federal court in the Southern District of Florida on May 7. Former Digitex CEO Pleads Guilty The U.S. Attorney’s...Read More
A New York court and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have revealed an indictment against Idin Dalpour. The 39-year-old New York resident is accused of organizing a sophisticated Ponzi scheme that allegedly defrauded investors of $43 million. $43 Million Ponzi Scheme According to the indictment, he ran the Ponzi scheme from approximately 2020 through...Read More
On April 29, Dutch law enforcement arrested a man believed to be connected to the fraudulent activities associated with the ZKasino internet gambling platform. During the operation, authorities confiscated assets valued at approximately 11.4 million euros ($12.2 million), including cryptocurrency, real estate, and luxury vehicles. Dutch Authorities Seize Millions in Assets According to a Fiscal...Read More
Jabara Igbara, commonly known as “Jay Mazini,” who boasted of being a crypto millionaire on Instagram, has been sentenced to seven years in prison by U.S. District Judge Frederic Block. The sentence on wire fraud and money laundering charges also mandates Igbara to forfeit $10 million. Jay Mazini Labelled a “Crypto Con Man” According to...Read More
United States prosecutors have filed charges against a Nebraska man accused of a cryptojacking scheme that allegedly defrauded two cloud providers – one headquartered in Seattle and the other in Redmond, Washington – of $3.5 million. Prosecutors allege that the cryptojacking scheme yielded cryptocurrency mining valued at almost $1 million. Cryptojacker Charged in $3.5 Million...Read More
A federal jury has convicted crypto trader Avraham Eisenberg of fraud and market manipulation. The charges stemmed from Eisenberg’s exploitation of Mango Markets, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol built on the Solana blockchain. Eisenberg Convicted for Market Manipulation Eisenberg, 28, was found guilty by jurors in a federal court in Manhattan on charges of commodities...Read More
Binance executive Nadeem Anjarwalla is facing extradition from Kenya following his escape from custody in Nigeria. He was spotted after a manhunt was launched from Nigeria that led the authorities to Kenya, where his whereabouts were discovered. Binance Executive Set to Be Extradited According to a local report, the Nigerian government is working on extraditing...Read More
Crypto exchange KuCoin has seen its market share of daily trading volume decline by half in recent weeks, according to Kaiko, a blockchain research and analytics firm. The decrease comes days after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) charged the company. KuCoin Daily Trading Volume Plunges Following the announcement...Read More
Tigran Gambaryan, a top executive at Binance, has taken legal action against the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Nigeria. According to a Reuters report, Gambaryan, an American citizen, has filed a Fundamental Rights suit alleging wrongful detention by Nigerian authorities. Unjust Detention and Court...Read More
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby levied sanctions against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in response to accusations of serious misconduct in the legal action against Utah-based cryptocurrency firm DEBT Box. The decision comes after the judge determined that the SEC had committed a “gross abuse of power” in its handling of the...Read More
In a recent development in the continuing legal situation involving Changpeng Zhao, the ex-CEO of Binance, the United States has instructed him to surrender all his active or expired passports to a designated third party. This directive was revealed in a legal filing submitted on March 12, changing Zhao’s bond conditions for release. Travel Restrictions...Read More
The SEC’s lawsuit against Binance has been ongoing since June when the regulator served a lawsuit to Coinbase as well. The proceedings have had their ups and downs. Since then, the main Binance exchange has settled with the SEC when Binance Holdings Ltd was asked to pay fines adding up to $4.3 billion, and former...Read More
According to Fortune, Binance.US is facing significant challenges, including forced layoffs and a decline in revenue, following legal actions initiated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In newly released court documents, Binance.US Chief Operating Officer Christopher Blodgett disclosed that the company has been compelled to terminate over 200 employees, amounting to two-thirds of...Read More
At the beginning of last spring, the Wall Street Journal published an investigative article on Tether, Bitfinex, and related companies. The majority stake of both Tether and the Bitfinex exchange is owned by iFinex, a corporation established in the Virgin Islands. Controversial Article At the time, the Wall Street Journal claimed that the two companies,...Read More
