A recent press release by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that the SEC has charged Unicoin Inc. and three of its executives "for false and misleading statements in an offering of certificates that purportedly conveyed rights to receive crypto assets called Unicoin tokens and an offering of Unicoin, Inc.'s common stock." According to the press release, the SEC alleges Unicoin and its executives "exploited thousands of investors with fictitious promises that its tokens, when issued, would be backed by real-world assets including an international portfolio of valuable real estate holdings," when in fact "the real estate assets were worth a mere fraction of what the company claimed, and the majority of the company's sales of rights certificates were illusory."
In a separate action, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced charges against 12 defendants "for allegedly participating in a cyber-enabled racketeering conspiracy throughout the United States and abroad that netted them more than $263 million." The DOJ press release notes the criminal enterprise included various roles such as "database hackers, organizers, target identifiers, callers, money launderers, and residential burglars targeting hardware virtual currency wallets." According to the press release, in one instance the defendants fraudulently obtained 4,100 BTC from a single victim – worth more than $230 million at the time. The press release further notes that "members of the enterprise laundered stolen cryptocurrency proceeds by moving the funds through various mixers and exchanges using 'peel chains,' pass-through wallets, and virtual private networks to mask their true identities."
For more information, please refer to the following links:
- Unicoin, Top Executives Charged in Offering Fraud That Raised More than $100 Million from Thousands of Investors
- Additional 12 Defendants Charged in RICO Conspiracy for over $263 Million Cryptocurrency Thefts, Money Laundering, Home Break-Ins
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
