As a seasoned crypto investor with over a decade of experience navigating the digital asset landscape, I can’t help but feel a mix of emotions upon reading about these recent charges against several firms and individuals for market manipulation. While it’s disheartening to see such blatant deceit in our community, it’s also reassuring to know that law enforcement agencies are taking these matters seriously and working tirelessly to root out fraudulent activities.
The United States regulatory bodies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have accused Gotbit and four additional cryptocurrency companies of engaging in extensive market manipulation practices.
The charges also roped in several individuals who worked for the offending organizations.
Market Makers Accused of Running Wash Trading Scheme
As per a declaration made by the SEC on October 9, it’s been alleged that Gotbit, ZM Quant, CLS Global, and MyTrade MM artificially boosted their trading volumes on centralized exchanges (CEXs) by employing automated trading programs in wash trading practices.
The Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s office also highlighted Saitama and Robo Inu, well-known meme coins, as subjects of the allegations they have made public.
According to the SEC, the mentioned businesses allegedly participated in “buy-and-hype” strategies. In these schemes, they reportedly overstated the worth of specific digital assets, leading unsuspecting new buyers to invest when the value was artificially increased, allowing the initial investors to sell at higher prices.
As a crypto investor, I recently learned that authorities have successfully confiscated approximately $25 million worth of digital currencies. Moreover, these same officials took down automated systems responsible for executing millions of questionable transactions involving around 60 distinct cryptocurrencies.
Saitama Employees Named in Complaint
Notable individuals under scrutiny in the investigations are Russell Armand, Maxwell Hernandez, and Manpreet Kohli, along with their colleagues Nam Tran and Vy Pham from Saitama Corporation. These individuals, as well as others, are alleged to have used Gotbit and ZM Quant to offer market manipulation assistance, which includes creating artificial trading volumes for various cryptocurrencies.
Kohli and Tran are accused of more crimes, including planning to defraud through wire communications and operating an illegal money transfer service without a license.
As reported by the U.S. Attorney’s office, Armand and Hernandez have already admitted their guilt for the same crimes that Kohli and Tran are accused of. Moreover, Pham, who is based in California, has also admitted to participating in illegal activities at Saitama and another undisclosed cryptocurrency company.
Additionally charged in the U.S. District Court in Boston are Aleksei Andriunin from Gotbit, Fedor Kedrov, Qawi Jalili, Riqui Liu, and Baijun Ou who hail from ZM Quant.
2017 marked the start of an investigation that revealed the suspects orchestrated a scheme involving bots to generate fake transactions on a colossal scale – we’re talking quadrillions here! This deceptive activity inflated daily trading volumes artificially, leading unsuspecting individual investors to purchase tokens at overpriced rates. Unfortunately, these investors experienced significant losses when Gotbit and associated companies cashed out their holdings.
A significant shift occurred during the probe as the FBI developed a digital currency named NexFundAI, which granted them insights into the operations of the market-leading companies in the financial sector.
As a crypto investor, I’ve been closely watching NexFundAI, a project that combines cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence. At the time of this writing, it was still actively trading with a market cap approximately $237,000. It appeared legitimate, and indeed, it seemed to have successfully drawn in those who saw an opportunity to manipulate its market.
Read More
- W PREDICTION. W cryptocurrency
- AAVE PREDICTION. AAVE cryptocurrency
- PENDLE PREDICTION. PENDLE cryptocurrency
- GBP CNY PREDICTION
- DAO PREDICTION. DAO cryptocurrency
- NUUM PREDICTION. NUUM cryptocurrency
- Why Did Persona Use the Term ‘Poo Poo’? A Dive into Localization Mishaps
- Why Fortnite Players Believe Epic Games Forgot Key Characters from Pirates of the Caribbean
- Rob2628: The Best Builds to Play in Season 5 Diablo 4
- PIP PREDICTION. PIP cryptocurrency
2024-10-12 15:16