The United States Securities and Exchange Commission, commonly known as the SEC, has filed a lawsuit against five people who traded unregistered securities, violating United States federal laws, as detailed by the federal agency in a statement.
Since 2016, Bitconnect operated as an investment plan for the cryptocurrency market and created a network of sellers around the world, raising more than USD 2 billion.
The SEC reported on the lawsuit on May 28 in which, through the Southern District Court of New York, indicts four US-based promoters This is Trevon Brown AKA Trevon James, Craig Grant, Ryan Maasen and Michael Noble who came to be known as Michael Crypto). None of these individuals registered as stockbrokers with the US securities industry regulator, the press release adds.
In several testimonial-style videos, promoters frequently posted videos on YouTube to recommend investing in the world of cryptocurrencies through BitConnect. For their ability to attract small investors, they were recognized with commissions of up to approximately 40% per month, according to the report.
The fifth defendant, Joshua Jeppesen, was helping to expand the network of alleged sellers. His strategy was to appear at conferences and promotional events to attract new potentials influencers
“We will seek to hold accountable those who illegally profit by capitalizing on the public’s interest in digital assets,” he said. Lara Shalov Mehraban, Regional Associate Director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office.
A ponzi scheme with footprints in various parts of the world
BitConnect was launched in 2016 as a cryptocurrency that could be excluded sively traded through the exchange and loan platform with the same name. In 2018 it closed its site after securities regulators warned investors about the alleged fraud originating from the company, as reported by CriptoNoticias at that time.
After the closure of the company, they were introduced various class action lawsuits in the United States and even in the United Kingdom against the project. The victims requested the reimbursement of about 770,000 dollars that were allegedly scammed from the users of the platform. However, 3 years later it was dismissed by a Florida State District Court judge.
The accusations have been repeated in various countries, including Singapore, India and Australia, where the scheme has been banned and there have even been arrests. In August 2018 Divyesh Darji, one of the BitConnect leaders in that country, was arrested in India after being on the run for several months.
Subsequently, the FBI reported that opened a procedure to find victims who want to collaborate with the investigation. In that sense, it published a form for anyone who can offer information that may be useful in the federal evaluation.
