A United States district court has sentenced against a digital currency and Forex Ponzi scheme that solicited and misappropriated its clients’ funds.
Both Venture Capital Investments LLC (VCI) and its principal and manager, Breonna Clark, otherwise known as Eliot Clark or Alexander Pak, were held accountable for running the fraudulent scheme.
The charges against them were brought by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), with the assistance of multiple foreign regulators, including the ones in Bulgaria, the St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Seychelles, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand.
A Typical Scam
Wednesday’s announcement detailed that the perpetrators fraudulently solicited funds from over 72 clients. They promised high returns by investing the funds in commodity pools that purportedly trade in forex and Cryptocurrencies .
Similar to most of such schemes, they promoted their scheme on social media. They advertised that the funds will be traded by a 'master team of traders' and promised consistent high returns.
However, the fund operators misappropriated the funds for personal use. They purchased many high-value goods, including a luxury automobile.
The perpetrators solicited and misappropriated a total of $450,302 in customer funds.
The court ordered the perpetrators to pay $450,302 in restitution to defrauded clients, along with a civil penalty of $450,302. They also need to bear the costs of the CFTC investigation.
Additionally, the defendants are now banned from registering with the CFTC and trading in any CFTC-regulated markets.
Despite the court order, the CFTC cautioned the victims that the scheme operators might not have enough funds or assets for the recovery of lost money.
