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The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has sued five individuals for falsely promoting bitcoin and crypto trading services that defrauded investors.
The defendants in the case primarily targeted Spanish-speaking users, according to the CFTC.
Most of the victims were from Spanish speaking communities
The CFTC alleged that five people – David Carmona, Juan Arellano Parra, Moses Valdez, David Brandt, and Marco A. Ruiz Ochoa – solicited money from customers to help him trade bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but misappropriated users’ funds.
The defendants jointly ran a business called Icomtech, which was allegedly a crypto trading venture. According to the CFTC, between 2018 and 2019, Icomtech said clients would receive between 0.9% and 2.8% in daily returns from crypto trading. The fraudulent scheme also promised to double the investment of customers between four and eight months.
However, the regulator alleged that Icomtech, along with the named defendants, did not use the funds received for bitcoin or crypto trading, nor did the scheme deliver on the above promises.
In addition, the CFTC said that Icomtech agents solicited “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in funds from more than 170 people in the United States and other countries. Furthermore, most of the customers came from Spanish-speaking communities.
In addition to the CFTC enforcement action, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) charged five defendants with wire fraud in October 2022 in connection with the Icomtech fraudulent enterprise.
CFTC is no more crypto-friendly than SEC
The latest enforcement action comes shortly after the CFTC filed its highest ever bitcoin fraud case involving $3.4 billion in penalty fees. The case involved a South African CEO who ran an unregistered commodities pool soliciting bitcoin from people and also embezzled customer funds.
Meanwhile, CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero recently said that it was impossible to monitor All the frauds going on in the cryptocurrency space, because it was a lot. According to Romero, 20% of the agency’s portfolio consists of crypto cases, including lawsuits against crypto giant Binance and the bankrupt FTX.
The CFTC commissioner also said that the regulatory agency should not be seen as a “friendly regulator” for the crypto sector in comparison to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which has taken a more aggressive approach towards the industry in recent times.
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The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has sued five individuals for falsely promoting bitcoin and crypto trading services that defrauded investors.
The defendants in the case primarily targeted Spanish-speaking users, according to the CFTC.
Most of the victims were from Spanish speaking communities
The CFTC alleged that five people – David Carmona, Juan Arellano Parra, Moses Valdez, David Brandt, and Marco A. Ruiz Ochoa – solicited money from customers to help him trade bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but misappropriated users’ funds.
The defendants jointly ran a business called Icomtech, which was allegedly a crypto trading venture. According to the CFTC, between 2018 and 2019, Icomtech said clients would receive between 0.9% and 2.8% in daily returns from crypto trading. The fraudulent scheme also promised to double the investment of customers between four and eight months.
However, the regulator alleged that Icomtech, along with the named defendants, did not use the funds received for bitcoin or crypto trading, nor did the scheme deliver on the above promises.
In addition, the CFTC said that Icomtech agents solicited “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in funds from more than 170 people in the United States and other countries. Furthermore, most of the customers came from Spanish-speaking communities.
In addition to the CFTC enforcement action, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) charged five defendants with wire fraud in October 2022 in connection with the Icomtech fraudulent enterprise.
CFTC is no more crypto-friendly than SEC
The latest enforcement action comes shortly after the CFTC filed its highest ever bitcoin fraud case involving $3.4 billion in penalty fees. The case involved a South African CEO who ran an unregistered commodities pool soliciting bitcoin from people and also embezzled customer funds.
Meanwhile, CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero recently said that it was impossible to monitor All the frauds going on in the cryptocurrency space, because it was a lot. According to Romero, 20% of the agency’s portfolio consists of crypto cases, including lawsuits against crypto giant Binance and the bankrupt FTX.
The CFTC commissioner also said that the regulatory agency should not be seen as a “friendly regulator” for the crypto sector in comparison to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which has taken a more aggressive approach towards the industry in recent times.
Binance Free $100 (Exclusive): Use this link to register and get $100 free and 10% off on Binance Futures for the first month. (terms).
PrimeXBT SPECIAL OFFER: Use this link to register and enter the code CRYPTOPOTATO50 to receive up to $7,000 on your deposit.
