The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused 17 individuals in a $300 million Ponzi scheme case.
At the hearing on Thursday, March 14, the SEC accused 17 people of targeting users in the U.S. and Latin America in the $300 million Ponzi scheme CryptoFX. The scheme allegedly defrauded over 40,000 investors in a short period.
According to the allegations, most of the $300 million collected from investors was used not for various financial investments, as claimed, but to finance the lavish lifestyle of the operators. This included extravagant expenses like buying a $1 million home in Texas.
Director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, Gurbir S. Grewal, stated that all the promises offered to investors by CryptoFX were completely deceptive:
We allege that CryptoFX is a $300 million happiness chain that deceived Latin investors with ‘risk-free’ and ‘guaranteed’ crypto and forex investments, promising financial freedom and life-changing wealth. Ultimately, CryptoFX’s only guarantee was an indictment comprising thousands of victims spread across 10 states and two foreign countries.
