The US Department of Justice announced on Friday that the CEO of Mining Capital Coin, dubbed ‘MCC’, a crypto mining and investment platform, has been charged for allegedly orchestrating a $62 million global investment fraud scheme.
The indictment alleges that Luiz Capuci Jr. of Port St. Lucie, Florida, the CEO and Founder of MCC, misled investors about the company’s cryptocurrency mining and investment program, under which investors could purchase ‘Mining Packages’.
MCC’s purported international network of cryptocurrency mining machines was touted by Capuci and his co-conspirators as being able to generate substantial profits and guaranteed returns by mining new cryptocurrency with investors’ funds.
In addition, Capuci touted MCC’s own cryptocurrency, Capital Coin, as a decentralized autonomous organization that was “stabilized by revenue from the biggest cryptocurrency mining operation in the world.” However, in the indictment, Capuci is accused of operating a fraudulent investment scheme and diverting investors’ money to cryptocurrency wallets under his control.
“Cryptocurrency-based fraud undermines financial markets worldwide as bad actors defraud investors and limits the ability of legitimate entrepreneurs to innovate within this emerging space. The department is committed to following the money, whether physical or digital, to expose criminal schemes, hold these fraudsters accountable and protect investors,” Kenneth A. Polite Jr., the Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, commented.
'Trading Bots' in the Scheme
Moreover, according to the indictment, Capuci touts and fraudulently markets MCC’s purported 'Trading Bots' as another investment method for cryptocurrency investors. Capuci stated that MCC collaborated with “top software developers from Asia, Russia and the United States to develop an improved version of Trading Bots that was tested with new technology never seen before.”
Moreover, Capuci asserted that MCC’s Trading Bots were ‘very high frequency, capable of doing thousands of trades per second’, and that each of MCC’s Trading Bots would generate daily returns for investors. However, as with the Mining Packages, Capuci allegedly engaged in investment fraud with the Trading Bots and was not, as he had promised, using the bots to generate income for investors but diverting funds to himself and associates.
The charges against Capuci include conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit international money laundering . He could spend up to 45 years behind bars if convicted of all counts.
