Texas court-appointed $ 360,000 fine to operators of fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme

The Texas Federal Court ruled that the two defendants pay $ 360,000 for administering a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme.

According to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Judge Reed C. O’Connor ruled that US citizens Morgan Hunt and Kim Hecroft participated in a fraudulent scheme getting bitcoins for investment in binary options, diamonds and foreign exchange contracts. The defendants allegedly worked through the companies Diamonds Trading Investment House and First Options Trading.

The verdict of the court alleges that the defendants “falsely stated that they would use the funds to invest in trade for the benefit of clients, distorted their experience as traders and portfolio managers, falsely told clients that they could not make their profits from investments without paying tax in CFTC, and misappropriated customer funds. “

Now the court demands that Hunt and Hecroft pay damages and pay a fine of $ 180,000 each, as well as be subject to a permanent ban on trading operations. According to the report, the accused may not be able to return the money to the victims due to lack of sufficient funds.

In June, the CFTC also filed
a lawsuit against the organizers of the cryptocurrency pyramid for $ 147 million, and in March the CFTC fined the startup $ 990,000 for illegal Bitcoin operations. In addition, in November last year, the Commission fined
cryptocurrency trader at $ 1.1 million for fraud.