Bitcoin News and Finance
Founder of Crypto Scam Promoted by Actor Steven Seagal Charged — Key Member Arrested in US Skip to main content

Founder of Crypto Scam Promoted by Actor Steven Seagal Charged — Key Member Arrested in US

Three people have been charged in the U.S. over two cryptocurrency scams, one of which was promoted by famous Hollywood actor Steven Seagal. The main promoter of the schemes has already been arrested and is facing criminal charges. Seagal previously settled the charges against him relating to the scheme.

  • The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged three people on Monday with defrauding retail investors “through two fraudulent and unregistered digital asset securities offerings” that occurred between approximately December 2017 and May 2018. The three are Kristijan Krstic, John DeMarr, and Robin Enos. DeMarr has been arrested and is facing criminal charges by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
  • Krstic (also known as Felix Logan), a Serbian-Australian national who was domiciled in the Philippines during the relevant period, is the founder of the two schemes, the SEC detailed. DeMarr of Santa Ana, California, was the schemes’ primary U.S.-based promoter. Robin Enos, a resident of San Pablo, drafted the schemes’ fraudulent documents to distribute to the public.
  • The two schemes are Start Options and Bitcoiin2gen. “By the time their schemes collapsed, they had fraudulently raised, directly or through affiliates and promoters, at least $11.4 million from more than 460 investors in Start Options and Bitcoiin2gen, none of which has been returned to investors,” the SEC wrote.
  • Krstic and DeMarr falsely claimed that Start Options was “the largest bitcoin exchange in euro volume and liquidity” and “consistently rated the best and most secure bitcoin exchange by independent news media.” They also promoted Bitcoiin2gen’s unregistered security offering of B2G tokens in January 2018.
  • The B2G token offering was also promoted by famous Hollywood actor Steven Seagal. In February 2020, the SEC charged Seagal with “unlawfully touting” B2G tokens, alleging that the actor failed to disclose that he was promised $250,000 in cash and $750,000 worth of B2G tokens in exchange for his promotions. Seagal subsequently settled the charges with the SEC.

  • The SEC alleges that Enos knowingly drafted fraudulent promotional materials containing numerous false statements, including that the B2G tokens would be tradeable on a proprietary cryptocurrency trading platform in early April 2018. In reality, “Bitcoiin2gen was a sham, and Krstic and DeMarr allegedly misappropriated millions of dollars of investor funds for their own personal benefit,” according to the SEC. In its Monday complaint, the SEC also stated that the “defendants misleadingly tout celebrity Steven Seagal as an investor” of the B2G tokens.

What do you think about this crypto scam? Let us know in the comments section below.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Custodial Lightning Network Service Attack Discovered by LN ‘Newbie’ — Hacker Strikes 6 LN Custodians

On September 18, a Redditor posted to the r/bitcoin forum and explained how he discovered a way to “attack [the] lightning Network’s custodial services.” The Reddit account dubbed “Reckless Satoshi” wanted to figure out if a “discrepancy between real routing fees and service’s transaction fee can be exploited for a profit.” The researcher disclosed that he wanted to see how large the damage could be and said “it is bad.” 6 Lightning Network Custodial Services Attacked, Researcher Discloses Findings to Offenders Prior to Public Disclosure A Redditor called Reckless Satoshi published a disclosure post on r/bitcoin this past Saturday and disclosed how he had found a vulnerability with routing fees and some of the Lightning Network’s custodial services. The research attack was done in good faith and after it was complete he disclosed the bugs to the offending services before publishing his findings. Reckless Satoshi used the Lightning Network (LN) attack on six different services incl
Post a Comment
Read more

Axie Infinity Down 40% Since Last Week’s Price High, Protocol Revenue Outshines Competitors

Last week, the game token leveraged within the Axie Infinity gaming universe skyrocketed to all-time highs, while other crypto markets remained extremely lackluster. During the last seven days, Axie Infinity’s platform token has dropped significantly in value shedding more than 12%. Meanwhile, the game platform’s smooth love potion token has slid over 8% over the last 24 hours. Axie Infinity Down More Than 40% Since All-Time High Not too long ago, the axie infinity (AXS) token was a topical conversation because it reached an all-time high on July 15. At the time, AXS managed to capture $28.93 per unit and since then it has shed 12.8% during the last seven days. The axie infinity (AXS) token is used within the blockchain-based game that involves battles between token-based creatures called “Axies.” AXS is used for the game’s governance system as well as other actions within the game. At the time of writing axie infinity (AXS) is exchanging hands for $16.70 per coin. AXS/USD on Ju
Post a Comment
Read more

Play-to-Earn Game From Polker (PKR) Exchange Listing – Endorsed by Akon

The Play-to-Earn NFT based Polker.Game ‘s native token $PKR has been officially listed on the popular centralized exchange BitMart. Polker.game has been in the spotlight recently as Akon, the American R&B superstar and record producer gave his official endorsement of polker stating that the “game is revolutionary” and that Polker is “hands down.. the best play to earn, NFT game in the space.”. With the BitMart listing and celebrity endorsement from Akon, Polker is perfectly positioned to become a major player in the Play-to-Earn league. Watch Akon’s Video Here What is Play-to-Earn? Although not a new concept, play-to-earn has become a trending term due to the popularity of the NFT game AXIE infinity. In the past, previous play-to-earn games have also achieved success – however, thanks to the huge amount of development in the blockchain space in recent years the gaming experience is now massively improved. Play-to-Earn games are essentially free to play and open to anyone and
Post a Comment
Read more

China to Crack Down on Copyright Infringement Through NFTs

Authorities in China are going after creators of digital collectibles based on other people’s works of art, the use of which was not authorized. The government offensive is part of a campaign to combat online copyright infringement and piracy with the participation of several departments. Regulators in China Move to Strengthen Copyright Supervision of Online Platforms The National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) has recently launched a campaign against copyright infringement and piracy on the internet, together with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, and the State Internet Information Office of the People’s Republic. A major objective of the initiative is to improve copyright supervision of online businesses by investigating cases involving the sale and distribution of infringing products on short video, live broadcast and e-commerce platforms, and promptly dealing with infringing content, the agency announced in a press r
Post a Comment
Read more
Blogarama - Blog Directory