Crypto Investor Money Worth $2.4 billion Trillion Lost, BitConnect Founder Sentenced To 70 Years In Prison

BitConnect founder committed fraud, sentenced to 70 years in prison by US court. (Gizmodo)

JAKARTA – BitConnect founder Satish Kumbhani must serve 70 years in prison for alleged crypto fraud. Federal Supreme Court Justices in the San Diego court have proven that Kumbhani defrauded thousands of crypto investors in the US and abroad for $2.4 billion.

According to The Daily Hodl, in a statement published on Friday, the US Department of Justice said that Indian citizen Satish Kumbhani faces up to 70 years in prison if found guilty of Ponzi schemes, manipulation of commodity prices, conspiracy to commit international money laundering, and operating a business. unauthorized remittances.

BitConnect is an online crypto investment program that uses proprietary technology to generate high returns, but US securities regulators claim that the operation is a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of billions of US dollars.

As additional information, BitConnect also has its own criteria, namely BitConnect Coin (BCC). BitConnect was launched on February 15, 2016.

“BitConnect operates as a Ponzi scheme by paying previous BitConnect investors with money from subsequent investors. In total, Kumbhani and his co-conspirators earned around US$2.4 billion from investors.”

According to the indictment, Kumbhani directed the promoter of the loan program to manipulate the price of BitConnect Coin (BCC) to create the impression that there was market demand for the BitConnect digital asset.

The document also says that Kumbhani and his accomplices allegedly concealed and relocated investor funds by moving assets through an international-based crypto exchange. To do so, Kumbhani uses several cryptocurrency wallets.

In addition, Kumbhani allegedly evaded BitConnect surveillance by violating financial industry regulations, such as not registering with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) as required by the Bank Secrecy Act.

According to the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), the party handling the case stated that this was because Kumbhani took advantage of the booming popularity of cryptocurrencies. Kumbhani uses a complex scheme to deceive investors.

“As cryptocurrencies gain popularity and attract investors around the world, alleged fraudsters like Kumbhani are using increasingly complex schemes to defraud investors. Often steals millions of dollars”, said Ryan L. Corner of IRS-CI.

Corner also added that his party will continue to monitor fraudsters engaged in finance, both physical and digital money. The IRS-CI will continue to dismantle Ponzi schemes in the crypto world.

"However, make no mistake, our agency will continue our long tradition of the following money, both physical and digital, to uncover criminal schemes and hold fraudsters accountable for their fraudulent and illegal acts", he added.