SEC Claims Two Brothers Ran a $60 Million Crypto Ponzi Scheme

user avatar

by Giorgi Kostiuk

2 years ago

Made with AI

  1. SEC Issues Ponzi Warning
  2. Details on the Matter
  3. Investigation Results


    4. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accuses two brothers of operating a $60 million crypto Ponzi scheme involving a non-existent trade bot.

    SEC Issues Ponzi Warning

    In a complaint filed on August 26 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta, the SEC alleges that Jonathan Adam and his brother Tanner Adam deceived over 80 investors with claims of a crypto bot that could provide a 13.5% monthly return.

    Details on the Matter

    From January 2023 to June 2024, the brothers told investors that their bot identified arbitrage trading opportunities on crypto platforms and could simultaneously buy and sell assets to profit from small price differences in different markets. Investors were informed that their funds would go into a lending pool to finance instant loans and complete transactions, with assets being borrowed and returned within the same blockchain transaction. Justin Jeffries, Deputy Chief of Enforcement at the SEC’s Atlanta Regional Office, stated the trading plan was entirely fraudulent, and the bot did not exist.

    Investigation Results

    Instead, the brothers misappropriated $53.9 million out of the $61.5 million collected. Investors received some money back, but the majority was used to finance a luxurious lifestyle, including purchasing cars and constructing a multi-million-dollar apartment complex. To halt the scheme, the SEC obtained emergency asset freezes for Jonathan and Tanner Adam’s companies GCZ Global, LLC, and Triten Financial Group LLC. The SEC accuses Jonathan Adam of misrepresenting his background to gain investors’ trust and failing to disclose three previous convictions for securities fraud. The SEC seeks permanent injunctions against the brothers’ companies, the disgorgement of all funds taken from investors, and civil penalties.

    In June, blockchain data analysis platform TRM Labs reported that $7.8 billion was paid to crypto pyramid and Ponzi schemes worldwide in 2022.

Tier I

Sector: #18291

Sealed Cache Room

Resource Cache

Resource Cache

Tier I

Requires 25% Tier Progress to Claim
Meme Cache

Meme Cache

Tier I

Requires 50% Tier Progress to Claim
Equipment Cache

Equipment Cache

Tier I

Requires 75% Tier Progress to Claim

After collecting, caches will be stored in your inventory and can be opened with Keys.

Other news

NEAR Protocol Achieves 50 Million Operations Milestone

chest

NEAR Protocol's chain abstraction infrastructure has surpassed 50 million lifetime operations, marking a significant achievement in simplifying multichain crypto interactions.

user avatarArif Mukhtar

Solana Sees Significant RWA Inflows

chest

Solana has recorded $348 million in net inflows of real-world assets over the past 30 days, increasing its tokenized RWA value to $720 million.

user avatarMaria Gutierrez

Aave Governance Considers Emergency Powers to Protect Users

chest

Aave governance is considering a proposal to grant emergency powers to guardians to freeze vulnerable lending pools during security threats.

user avatarDavid Robinson

Router Protocol Users Must Move Assets During Grace Period

chest

Router Protocol users must take action during the grace period to bridge assets back to origin chains before relayer nodes are disconnected.

user avatarJacob Williams

Arbitrum Proposes Disqualification of Three DeFi Protocols from Future Grants

chest

A new governance proposal by Arbitrum aims to disqualify three DeFi protocols from future DAO grant allocations due to alleged reporting failures and misuse of prior incentives.

user avatarAndrew Smith

Router Protocol to Shut Down Crosschain Network and Burn 303 Million Tokens

chest

Router Protocol has announced a deprecation plan to shut down its crosschain messaging network and burn 303 million ROUTE tokens due to unsustainable maintenance costs.

user avatarZainab Kamara

Important disclaimer: The information presented on the Dapp.Expert portal is intended solely for informational purposes and does not constitute an investment recommendation or a guide to action in the field of cryptocurrencies. The Dapp.Expert team is not responsible for any potential losses or missed profits associated with the use of materials published on the site. Before making investment decisions in cryptocurrencies, we recommend consulting a qualified financial advisor.