ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a lawsuit against a pastor named "Francier Obando Pinillo," accusing him of promoting a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme to 1,500 people, including some congregants of a church in Washington, claiming that the scheme raised $6 million.The regulator alleges that from November 1, 2021, to December 31, 2023, Pinillo claimed to be the CEO of Solanofi, Solano Partners Ltd., and Solano Capital Investments, companies that developed the "Solano ecosystem" and traded Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, and other cryptocurrencies on behalf of clients. Pinillo promised clients that through Solanofi, they could earn up to 34.9% profit each month.The CFTC stated that the trading or staking services promised by Pinillo did not exist at all, and his statements and account statements were false. The defendant misappropriated all digital and fiat assets transferred by clients. The regulator seeks restitution for defrauded clients, the forfeiture of all funds generated through the scheme, the imposition of trading bans, and the issuance of a permanent injunction.

ChainCatcher news, Ryan Kim, founding partner of the crypto investment firm Hashed, stated on social media that in 2014, Ripple Labs sold XRP in South Korea through the "Ripple Market Korea" project in a "Ponzi scheme" manner, attracting a large number of South Korean investors. These early investors may have received substantial returns, and there is a real XRP community in South Korea, which is why many Koreans are buying XRP.According to a report from South Korean media in November 2014, the platform operator Ripple Market Korea completed its first round of sales within 2 hours on its opening day. The platform issued its own token RMK, promising to return transaction fee profits to users based on their holdings. At that time, the platform promoted advantages such as the ability to exchange XRP with various national currencies, investment from Google Ventures, and compliance with U.S. regulations.

ChainCatcher news, BitMEX Research posted on social media that currently, MicroStrategy (MSTR) stock price has a huge premium compared to the value of its held Bitcoin, approximately 256% when fully diluted. Part of the reason may be that some financial regulators prohibit people from purchasing Bitcoin ETFs. However, investors are very eager for Bitcoin exposure, so they buy MSTR despite the premium.In addition, MSTR has a "yield strategy." Since MSTR is trading at a premium, the company can issue new shares and buy more Bitcoin. This would then increase the Bitcoin holdings behind each share. If the premium continues to exist, the company can keep issuing new shares.MSTR's current premium rate is 256%. Based on this premium, when each share of MSTR actually represents a Bitcoin holding valued at $474, MicroStrategy would need to issue 157 million shares (currently 102 million shares) to raise $157 billion, with the stock price rising to $1,685 per share, resulting in a market capitalization of $674 billion and holding 1.9 million Bitcoins.BitMEX Research believes that such price performance and rising model is a "Ponzi scheme" and is unreasonable.

ChainCatcher news, according to News.bitcoin, Nigeria's proposed "Investment and Securities Bill" suggests imprisoning Ponzi scheme operators. This bill has been welcomed by participants in the cryptocurrency industry, who hope that this move will help to cleanse the industry's reputation.

ChainCatcher news, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, announced that on October 15, 2024, JUAN TACURI, one of the promoters of the cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme Forcount (later known as Weltsys), was sentenced to a maximum of 240 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres.It is reported that the scheme spanned the globe, ensnaring thousands of victim investors ("victims"), primarily targeting Spanish-speaking individuals in the United States. JUAN TACURI profited millions of dollars from the scam and spent the money on items such as real estate and luxury goods in Florida.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, an 86-year-old former California lawyer was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay nearly $14 million after admitting to running a multi-million dollar cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme.On October 8, Las Vegas federal court Judge Gloria Navarro sentenced David Kagel to probation after he pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge of commodity fraud in May.Due to his poor health, Kagel is currently receiving hospice care at a senior facility in Las Vegas, where he will serve his probation unless he leaves, at which point he will be required to wear a monitoring device. Government prosecutors who charged Kagel last year stated that from December 2017 to around June 2022, David Kagel and two accomplices lured victims into investing in a fraudulent cryptocurrency trading scheme with promises of high returns and no risk.

ChainCatcher news, at the national conference audit held in Seoul, lawmakers demanded a special investigation into the KOK cryptocurrency scam. According to allegations from the victims' alliance, two subsidiaries of the Chosun Ilbo were aware that KOK was a scam but still actively promoted it, resulting in a loss of 40 trillion won (approximately 2.97 billion USD).According to the Asia Daily, IT Chosun, the business news department under the Chosun Ilbo, reported a significant milestone for KOK in April 2022. Two months later, another subsidiary, Digital Chosun, awarded KOK the "Consumer Satisfaction" award.It is reported that the KOK token attracted nearly 2 million investors worldwide. From 2019 to 2023, investors could use the KOK PLAY platform to consume Korean dramas, movies, and games, and exchange KOK tokens for Bitcoin with a fee of 7-12%. Investors could also earn commissions by recruiting other investors; KOK essentially operated as a Ponzi scheme and multi-level marketing plan.

ChainCatcher news, according to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Rochon sentenced 41-year-old IcomTech founder David Carmona to 121 months in prison on Friday. Carmona had previously pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit telecommunications fraud.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bitcoin.com, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) reported on Tuesday that Judge Mary Rowland of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has ordered Oregon resident Sam Ikkurty and several of his entities to pay a fine of $209.61 million.The entities involved include Jafia LLC, Ikkurty Capital LLC, Rose City Income Fund I LP, Rose City Income Fund II, and Seneca Ventures LLC. The court's decision was based on the CFTC's findings of fraudulent solicitation and misappropriation of funds, which the CFTC described as a Ponzi scheme disguised as cryptocurrency and carbon investment projects.The judgment requires Sam Ikkurty to pay $83.7 million in restitution to investors, offsetting $36.9 million in illegal proceeds forfeiture, in addition to a civil penalty of $110.9 million.

ChainCatcher news, the U.S. SEC announced emergency asset freeze measures against brothers Jonathan Adam and Tanner Adam and their company, accusing them of executing a $60 million Ponzi scheme from January 2023 to June 2024, involving over 80 investors.The SEC stated that the Adam brothers fabricated a cryptocurrency trading "robot" and lending pool, promising monthly returns of up to 13.5%. In reality, they used investor funds to pay false returns and for personal luxury expenses, including the purchase of a $30 million apartment and luxury cars. The SEC has filed a lawsuit in court seeking a permanent injunction, recovery of illegal gains, and civil penalties.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bitcoinist, Yang Bin, who was once the second richest person on the Chinese rich list, has been sentenced to six years in prison in Singapore for running a Ponzi scheme disguised as a cryptocurrency investment business, involving millions of dollars.On August 26, the 61-year-old Dutch national of Chinese descent admitted to eight charges, including conspiracy to participate in a fraudulent scheme and operating without a valid work permit, and was fined 16,000 Singapore dollars (12,200 USD).According to local media reports, Yang Bin conducted fraudulent activities under the name A&A Blockchain Innovation, attracting over 700 investors who invested 6.7 million Singapore dollars between May 2021 and February 2022, but lost about 1.1 million Singapore dollars.The company claimed to own 300,000 cryptocurrency mining machines, generating a daily return of 0.5% for investors. However, such machines did not actually exist. Instead, Yang Bin used funds from new investors to pay returns to earlier investors, a hallmark of a Ponzi scheme.It is reported that in 2001, Yang Bin was ranked as the second richest person on the Chinese rich list by Forbes magazine and was regarded as a pioneer in China's economic boom and a model of rapid wealth accumulation. In 2003, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison by a Chinese court for tax evasion and was released in 2016 after serving his sentence.

ChainCatcher news, OmegaPro co-founder Andreas Szakacs was arrested in Turkey in July on suspicion of involvement in a $4 billion cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme.Szakacs, who changed his name to Emre Avci after obtaining Turkish citizenship, denied the allegations and stated that he was engaged in finance and marketing work. Turkish authorities seized computers and 32 cold wallets during a raid, tracing $160 million in cryptocurrency flows.It is reported that OmegaPro collapsed at the end of 2022, after multiple countries issued fraud warnings against it.

ChainCatcher news reports that, according to official news, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced today that they have obtained a preliminary injunction, asset freeze, and other emergency relief against Atlanta Drive Planning LLC and its founder and CEO Russell Todd Burkhalter.The SEC alleges that Drive Planning and Burkhalter raised over $300 million from more than 2,000 investors from June 2020 to June 2024 by promising high returns ("10% interest every 3 months") for so-called real estate investments. However, this was merely a typical Ponzi scheme, where they used funds from new investors to pay returns to existing investors. Additionally, the SEC alleges that Burkhalter misappropriated millions of investor funds to purchase a $3.1 million yacht, $4.6 million in private jet and luxury car services, and a $2 million luxury apartment to support his lavish lifestyle.Nekeya Hackworth Jones, the director of the SEC's Atlanta regional office, stated that Drive Planning and Burkhalter gained the trust of ordinary investors through false promises, implementing a typical Ponzi scheme. She urged investors to be wary of sellers who overly promote high returns. In addition to obtaining emergency relief, the SEC is also seeking a permanent injunction against the defendants, the return of ill-gotten gains, and civil penalties, as well as a ban on Burkhalter from serving as an executive of any company. The case is currently under further investigation.

ChainCatcher message, Bloomberg Businessweek / Chinese Edition issued a statement, acknowledging a serious error in the published 250th issue of the magazine (July 6, 2022), which featured a false and baseless cover headline "Zhao Changpeng's Ponzi Scheme." It fully retracts this offensive statement and apologizes to Zhao Changpeng and Binance. It will not publish or make any similar or identical allegations in any manner again.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, a district judge in Illinois has supported the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and ordered a man from Oregon and his company to pay over $120 million, part of which is for compensating victims in what the agency referred to as a "Ponzi scheme."U.S. District Court Judge Mary Rowland for the Northern District of Illinois stated in an opinion released on Monday that Sam Ikkurty from Oregon and his company Jafia, LLC made significant misrepresentations, but the opinion was published by the CFTC on Wednesday. The CFTC stated that Ikkurty and his company failed to register and engaged in fraudulent activities.Notably, Judge Rowland also pointed out in the order that the cryptocurrencies OHM and Klima are commodities.The CFTC stated in a statement that the order not only recognizes Bitcoin and Ethereum as commodities under CFTC jurisdiction, but also that OHM and Klima, two non-Bitcoin virtual currencies, meet the definition of commodities, noting that these virtual currencies belong to the same category as Bitcoin and have regulated futures trading.