Indicted by america Division of Justice in a $2.4 billion Ponzi scheme, BitConnect founder Satish Kumbhani stays untraced following conviction.
In a courtroom submitting on Monday, the Securities and Change Fee mentioned that the whereabouts of Kumbhani stays unknown. The SEC famous that Kumbhani’s final identified location was in his native nation India, however has remained untraced ever because the promoter for his BitConnect Ponzi scheme was charged by the SEC for defrauding American buyers of over $2 billion.
SEC in its submitting famous that the convicted founder has likely fled to a overseas nation and “Kumbhani’s location stays unknown, and the Fee stays unable to state when its efforts to find him will probably be profitable, if in any respect.” The founder is charged with wire fraud, working an unlicensed cash transmitting enterprise, and three conspiracies: committing wire fraud; commodity value manipulation; and worldwide cash laundering
Associated: SEC expenses 5 for illegally selling $2 billion Bitconnect Ponzi scheme
The BitConnect saga dates again to ICO-era and was among the many most highlighted and talked about tasks on the time. Based in 2016, the crypto undertaking turned a world sensation by mid-2017 because it raised billions of {dollars} from international buyers. The undertaking promised a lending program primarily based on proprietary “buying and selling bot” and “volatility software program” that may supply 10% incomes to buyers by way of BCC token.
The DOJ charged Kumbhani for operating a Ponzi scheme by way of BitConnect’s lending program the place the undertaking managed to siphon off $2.4 billion from buyers. Bitconnect’s native token BCC recorded an all-time-high buying and selling value of $463.31 on the peak of the market frenzy in December 2017 reaching a market cap of $3.4 billion.
The founders rug pulled the undertaking by January 2018, crashing the token value to close zero and inflicting huge losses to buyers.
The DOJ additionally accused Kumbhani of making faux market demand for BCC to lure extra unsuspecting buyers. The undertaking like many others within the ICO period turned out to be an enormous pyramid scheme the place the creators used early funds to repay outdated buyers and later ran away after amassing billions primarily based on hype and ICO craze. . A number of promoters of the undertaking throughout Australia and the U.S. have already been convicted and dealing with jail.
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