The Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced criminal charges against six defendants in four separate cases of digital currency-related fraud. The cases include a non-fungible token (NFT) rug pull, a fraudulent investment fund, an unregistered digital currency security Ponzi scheme, and a fraudulent ICO.
Per the DOJ’s press release, the filing of the charges is the product of a national enforcement action coordinated by the DOJ, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
“These cases serve as a crucial reminder that some con artists hide behind trendy buzzwords, but at the end of the day they are simply seeking to separate people from their money,” said U.S. Attorney Tracy L. Wilkison for the Central District of California.
The NFT rug pull case involves Le Anh Tuan, a Vietnamese national who created the “Baller Ape” NFT collection. The 26-year-old is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit international money laundering in the Central District of California in connection with the NFT collection, and could face up to 40 years in prison.
In total, Tuan and his team—”his co-conspirators”—obtained approximately $2.6 million from investors after ending the project and deleting its website after the first day of public sales of the NFTs. The DOJ notes that the case is its biggest involving NFTs to date.
The second case involves two Brazilians Emerson Pires, Flavio Goncalves, and Joshua David Nicholas of Florida, who operated a “global cryptocurrency-based Ponzi scheme that generated approximately $100 million from investors.”
The trio promoted EmpiresX, a digital assets investment platform, and an unregistered securities offering. They are being charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The two Brazilians could face up to 45 years sentence, while Nicholas could face 25 years if convicted.
The third case is a $21 million…
