Online Pastor In Colorado Arrested On Charges Of "INDXcoin" Crypto Fraud
An online-based Colorado priest is accused of fraud for selling cryptocurrencies "zero". In that case he said he only did it because "God" told him to give his followers "10X".
In a 9-minute strange video posted on the official INDXcoin website, the founder and pastor of INDXcoin, Eli Regalado, informed community INDXcoin users that the accusations leveled against him and his colleagues were true.
"It is true that Kaitlin and I pocketed 1.3 million US dollars (Rp20.3 billion), and I just want to admit that the allegations are true," said Regalado.
On January 18, Eligio Regalado and his partner Kaitlin Regalado were accused of fraud over their role in issuing and marketing a fake token called "INDXcoin" to their followers, according to a statement from the Colorado Security Commission.
"We allege that Regalado takes advantage of the belief and faith of the Christian community itself and that he sells cryptocurrencies that are basically worthless by giving them excessive wealth pledges," wrote Colorado Security Commissioner Tung Chan.
"The complaint states that the Regalado targeted the Christian community in Denver and claims that God directly told him that investors would be rich if they invested their money in INDXcoin," added Chan.
From June 2022 to April 2023, INDXcoin raised nearly $3.2 million from more than 300 investors through a platform called the Kingdom Wealth Exchange, the Colorado regulator claims.
Most of these investments come from the online church Victorious Grace Church, where Regalado serves as pastor.
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Of more than 3 million US dollars (Rp46.9 billion) collected from investors, Regalado said that half of it was given to the IRS for taxes, while a large amount of money was used for house renovations supported by God.
"Several hundred thousand dollars was used for the renovation of the house that God ordered us to do," said Regalado.
Regalado closed the Kingdom Wealth Exchange on November 1 last year after claiming that it was not "financial enough to run an internal server," adding that he and his partner were on "mining poverty."
Despite admitting to being near poverty, the lawsuit filed by Commissioner Chan stated that the couple spent most of the $1.3 million on cosmetic teethcare, luxury bags, snowmobiles, home renovations, and luxury holidays.