The US Department of Justice has filed charges against the creators of the cryptocurrency projects Baller Ape Club NFT, EmpiresX, Circle Society and Titanium Blockchain Infrastructure Services, accusing them of stealing investors’ funds.
Le Anh Tuan, a 26-year-old Vietnamese national, is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to a statement released by the US Department of Justice.
The attackers organized the Baller Ape Club project, selling non-fungible tokens (NFT) in the form of various cartoon characters, including monkeys. Shortly after the sale of the first batch of NFTs, Tuan and his accomplices shut down the project, removed the website, and absconded with $2.6 million in investor funds.
Law enforcement authorities found out that the creators of the Baller Ape Club withdrew liquidity from the pools (rug pull), converted tokens into other crypto assets and moved them across several blockchains using decentralized exchangers in order to cover the tracks of stolen cryptocurrencies. If found guilty, Tuan could face up to 40 years in prison.
The U.S. Justice Department has filed separate charges against Emerson Pires and Flavio Goncalves, two Brazilians, and Joshua David Nicholas, a Florida resident, for operating the EmpiresX cryptocurrency investment platform. They organized the sale of unregistered securities, guaranteed investors a high income, attracting them with false statements. The agency claims that the creators of EmpiresX paid profits to early investors from funds received from later investors, and also laundered money through a foreign cryptocurrency exchange. If Pires and Gonçalves are found guilty on all charges, they face up to 45 years in prison, and Nicolás up to 25 years in prison.
The agency’s press release also mentions Michael Alan Stollery, 54, a California citizen, founder of Titanium Blockchain Infrastructure Services (TBIS), a cryptocurrency investment platform. He is accused of illegally selling crypto assets to TBIS, which violated securities laws. During the ICO, about $21 million was raised from American and foreign investors. According to the indictment, Stollery provided investors with false information regarding TBIS and published fake testimonials on the project’s website, posting false information about cooperation with well-known companies Apple Inc., Pfizer Inc. and The Walt Disney Company to inspire confidence in potential investors. Stolleri faces up to 20 years in prison.
In addition, charges have been brought against 49-year-old Nevada resident David Saffron, owner of the Circle Society cryptocurrency investment platform. Saffron guaranteed users a profit of 500%-600% of the amount invested with the help of a trading bot that was supposedly able to make more than 17,000 transactions per hour on various cryptocurrency exchanges. Saffron held meetings with investors in luxury homes to give the appearance of wealth and success. In total, he managed to lure about $12 million from investors. The offender faces up to 115 years in prison.
In June, the US Department of Justice called on law enforcement agencies around the world to join forces to combat cryptocurrency crimes. The agency has proposed standardizing anti-money laundering (AML) rules and strengthening the oversight of the Know Your Customer (KYC) procedure.
