Leader Of Fake Cryptocurrency Investment Scheme Charged With Fraud And Money Laundering

[nitpicker]

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/leader-fake-cryptocurrency-investment-scheme-charged-fraud-and-money-laundering

Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Southern District of New York

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Leader Of Fake Cryptocurrency Investment Scheme Charged With Fraud And Money Laundering

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), and Michael F. McPherson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Tampa Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced the unsealing of an indictment charging MICHAEL ACKERMAN with wire fraud and money laundering. ACKERMAN allegedly defrauded over 100 individuals of more than $35 million through his fake cryptocurrency investment scheme. ACKERMAN will be presented Friday in federal court in the Northern District of Ohio.

In or about 2017, MICHAEL ACKERMAN and others started a purported cryptocurrency “investment” fund (the “Fund”) and recruited hundreds of individual investors into the Fund. Under the terms of the Fund, investors were told that they would receive 50% of their trading profits, and that the founders of the Fund, including ACKERMAN, would receive the other 50%. ACKERMAN falsely represented to potential investors that the fund had historical returns of approximately 15% each month. Moreover, during the period alleged in the Complaint and Indictment, ACKERMAN prepared materials falsely purporting to show that the Fund was returning approximately 15% each month, and shared that information with Fund investors. For example, in or about December 2019, ACKERMAN represented to investors and others that the Fund had a balance of over $315 million worth of cryptocurrencies available for trading in a Fund account. Those representations by ACKERMAN included screenshots of trading data doctored by ACKERMAN in order to make it appear that the Fund was operating at that successful level, when its actual trading balance was less than the equivalent of half a million dollars. ACKERMAN, moreover, regularly stole proceeds of this fraud from the Fund, and attempted to conceal those proceeds not only through his false representations to investors, but through the purchase of at least five pieces of real estate, all of which were titled to third parties.
(snip)

[SWBTATTReg]

1. Well, I'm glad they caught the guy, but sometimes I wish that they would be forced to...

bond themselves (surety bonds, etc.), in amounts that can cover losses and/or fraud, and that the bonds are listed w/ the state licensing agency so that potential investors can investigate. A shame that $35 million is gone, proof!