US Department of Justice Accuses NFT Developer of Fraud
The Baller Ape project is the largest NFT scheme known to date. On Thursday, the Ministry of Justice announced charges in three additional criminal cases related to cryptocurrencies.
Le An Tuan is accused of selling NFT Baller Ape on the Solana blockchain, and then abruptly terminating the project, deleting its website and stealing investors' money.
"According to the indictment, shortly after the NFT Baller Ape Club was first publicly sold, Tuan and his accomplices participated in the termination of the alleged investment project, the removal of its website and the theft of investors' money," the Ministry of Justice said.
The Ministry of Justice claims that blockchain analytics show that developers laundered investors' funds by "jumping the chain." The practice involves converting coins, moving them across multiple cryptocurrency blockchains, and using decentralized cryptocurrency exchange services to hide the movement of money.
Tuan was charged in the Central District of California.
On Thursday, new cases were announced
Three other cases announced by the Justice Department this week include one man who allegedly forged relationships with the U.S. government and Apple to support his initial coin offering. In another case, a Nevada resident allegedly held meetings in the Hollywood Hills and traveled with armed guards to attract investors.
The Justice Department has indicted three senior executives of EmpiresX, a cryptocurrency investment platform and offering unregistered securities. Founders Emerson Pires and Flavio Goncalves from Brazil and "chief trader" Joshua David Nicholas from Florida were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit fraud using electronic means and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud.
According to the Ministry of Justice, the charges are related to an alleged global Ponzi scheme in which cryptocurrency was used and $100 million was received from investors. Pires and Goncalves were also charged with conspiracy to launder money abroad. The trio is accused of fraudulently promoting EmpiresX and paying earlier investors cash from later investors in the scheme.
Pires and Goncalves could be sentenced to 45 years in prison if found guilty on all counts. Nikolai faces up to 25 years in prison.
The CEO and founder of Titanium Blockchain Infrastructure Services could also be sentenced to twenty years in prison if found guilty.
https://coin-signal.com/cryptonews/us-department-of-justice-accuses-nft-developer-of-fraud/
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