DoJ charges nine in Crypto Ponzi Case. 

• IcomTech and Forcount were the firms involved in Ponzi ventures, promising false returns to victims. 
• The Department of Justice has been very strict lately in the wake of FTX-like episodes.
• FTX former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has been arrested in the Bahamas and denied bail.

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has become extra vigilant and is scrutinizing crypto industry players. All this vigilance is perhaps to avoid an FTX collapse ‘part II’ on US soil. The DoJ announced that they had filed charges against nine individuals for allegedly operating two Crypto Ponzi schemes – ‘IcomTech’ and ‘Forcount,’ aka ‘Weltsys,’ on Wednesday.

These two indictments should be considered a warning for all cryptocurrency con artists. US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement,

“Stealing is stealing, even when dressed up in the jargon of cryptocurrency.”

Per the DoJ, Icom Tech and Forcount claimed to be cryptocurrency trading and mining firms which promised their investors profit in exchange for purchasing cryptocurrency-related investment products. Victims used cash, wire transfers, checks, and cryptocurrency to invest. 

In the first indictment, the DoJ had accused Marco Ruiz Ochoa, David Carmona, Juan Arellano, Moses Valdez, Gustavo Rodriguez, and David Brend of committing wire fraud for their involvement in IcomTech. The agency said that the venture was run between mid-2018 to late 2019.

The second indictment saw DoJ accusing Juan Tacuri, Francisley Da Silva, and Antonia Perez Hernandez of their involvement in Forcount. It ran an alleged Ponzi enterprise from mid-2017 to late 2021. Silva and Tacuri are also charged with Anti-money laundering (AML) acts.

The agency said that the company made false promises to their respective victims that, along with other benefits, they shall also be entitled to receive a share in profits earned by companies’ cryptocurrency mining and trading. This would guarantee them daily returns; the investments should be doubled within six months. 

SEC charges 8 social media influencers in $100 million securities deceit. 

On December 14, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged 8 social media influencers; who used Twitter and Discord to manipulate exchange-traded stocks. The deceit involved approximately $100 million. 

The seven defendants had promoted themselves as successful traders and gained thousands of followers on Twitter and Discord. They allegedly engaged in ‘pumping and dumping’ as they bought stocks in certain companies and promoted their names on their social media accounts and podcasts. They pushed their followers into buying those stocks by indicating price targets, indicating that they were also buying, and holding on to them. But when the price pumped, they sold their shares without disclosing it to their followers. 

The eighth accomplice was charged with aiding the enterprise by promoting them as traders and cohosting them on his podcast. 

Andrew is a blockchain developer who developed his interest in cryptocurrencies while his post-graduation. He is a keen observer of details and shares his passion for writing along with being a developer. His backend knowledge about blockchain helps him give a unique perspective to his writing

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