30s Summary

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in collaboration with the Department of Justice and FBI, has filed fraud and market manipulation charges against three cryptocurrency firms, Gotbit Consulting, ZM Quant Investment, CLS Global, and nine individuals. The charges revolve around alleged ‘wash trading’ practices. They are also charged with involvement in digital coins created by the FBI. Among the accused is Gotbit’s marketing director Fedor Kedrov, and Vy Pham who orchestrated crypto projects involved in the case. The SEC is seeking fines, penalties, and potential bans from directorships.

Full Article

Three crypto companies and a group of individuals recently got hit with fraud and market manipulation charges by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This went down in courtrooms in Massachusetts, along with a hand from the Department of Justice and FBI.

The accused in question are Gotbit Consulting, ZM Quant Investment, CLS Global, and nine individuals linked to these companies. Among the accused is Fedor Kedrov, a marketing director at Gotbit Consulting. It’s claimed that through ‘wash trading’ techniques (basically buying and selling to yourself to make it seem as though there’s lots of interest in the market), they stirred up a false buzz around the digital coins Saitama and Robo Inu.

The orchestrator of these crypto projects was a lady named Vy Pham, originally from Vietnam but currently living in California. She’s facing a bunch of charges too – unregistered securities offerings, offering/selling securities fraud, purchasing/selling securities fraud, and market manipulation. Four other folks tied to Pham are also facing similar charges, with Pham and two of her partners accepting split settlements.

If that wasn’t enough, ZM Quant and CLS Global, along with those connected to Pham, are also under fire for their involvement with another digital coin called NexFundAI, which, get this, was created by the FBI. They’re also facing heat over another digital coin, SaitaRealty.

One of the accused lives in Russia, some are over in London and Hong Kong, and another resides in India. Despite this, the SEC are seeking fines, penalties, and potentially bans from company directorships.

The FBI also flagged several other digital currencies that are under investigation, including Saitama, SaitaRealty, SaitaChain, Robo Inu, VZZN, Lillian Finance, and again, NexFundAI.

Another company called MyTrade MM is also neck-deep in trouble, facing accusations that they offered services to NexFundAI. The founders of two other digital coins, VZZN, and Lillian Finance, have been charged, with one of them having links to Saitama. However, it seems like this is the only link between the two digital coins and the larger investigation.

Source: Cointelegraph