Before Donald Trump, many altcoins and cryptocurrency companies were sued by the SEC and CFTC in the US. While many cases ended after Trump, another case has ended.
However, in this case, the court imposed a fine of approximately $26 million on My Big Coin, a cryptocurrency and virtual payment services company.
Accordingly, a Massachusetts federal court judge ordered My Big Coin to pay $25.8 million to the CFTC for cryptocurrency fraud.
According to the court decision, My Big Coin and My Big Coin executives Mark Gillespie and John Roche were ordered to pay $19.32 million in civil penalties and $6.44 million in restitution to investors who were allegedly defrauded.
Additionally, Judge Gillespie prohibited Roche and its companies from participating in or engaging in any other market-related activities that fall within the jurisdiction of the CFTC.
The CFTC said in an official statement and warned investors about the lack of funds.
“The defendants obtained more than $6 million through fraudulent solicitations from at least 28 customers, including false and misleading claims and omissions about the value, usage, and trading status of MBC, and that MBC was backed by gold.
Crater embezzled virtually all of the money claimed from clients and misappropriated the embezzled funds.
The CFTC warns that orders requiring repayment of funds to victims may not result in the recovery of lost money because criminals may not have sufficient funds or assets.”
What Happened?
The CFTC alleged that Gillespie, Roche, and another operator, Michael Kruger, defrauded investors through My Big Coin (MBC) between January 2014 and June 2017, defrauding at least 28 investors out of more than $6 million.
The CFTC also filed a lawsuit against one of the executives, Michael Kruger, but that case was dropped due to Kruger's death.
*This is not investment advice.