Overview Of Bitcoin This Wednesday
On Monday, Jon E. Montroll pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud and one count of obstruction of justice.
37-year-old, from Texas, he was arrested by the Fbi for trying to cover up massive client losses after his exchange was hacked. Each charge against him carries a maximum of 20 years imprisonment.
He had two different bitcoin services: Weexchange and Bitfunder.
Weexchange was functioning as a bitcoin depository and currency exchange service, while Bitfunder’s role was to facilitate the trading and purchase of shares of businesses that were listed on the platform.
Hackers stole about 6,000 bitcoins from Weexchange during the summer of 2013. The two ventures then did not have the required bitcoin to cover what was owed to users, and he tried to hide it.
Geoffrey S. Berman, Manhattan US Attorney said: “Montroll deceived his investors and then attempted to deceive the SEC. He repeatedly lied during sworn testimony and misled SEC staff to avoid taking responsibility for the loss of thousands of his customers’ bitcoins.”
Still, in today’s edition, we report about a scammer being fined over $1.9 million.
His name is Michael Dean of Colorado. Dean and his UK-registered company: the Entrepreneurs Headquarters Limited, were ordered by a federal court to pay more than $1.9 million in civil monetary penalties and restitution. It was discovered by a judge that Dean engaged in a dubious scheme to solicit bitcoin from the public. He lied that customers’ funds would be invested in products that include binary options and also misappropriated clients’ funds. He did not also register as a Commodity Pool Operator with the CFTC.
Findings show that from April 2017 to January 1, 2018, Dean requested for at least $499,264.04 worth of bitcoin from not less than 127 members of the public. He promised to convert it into fiat, then invest it on behalf of its customers in a pooled investment, including binary options and online exchange. He deceived his victims with false claims of trading expertise and promises of high returns in Youtube videos and Facebook posts, which he actually never did.
