Ah, the drama of the digital age! In a twist of fate, My Big Coin Pay, Inc. and its equally fascinating counterpart My Big Coin, Inc., along with their illustrious masterminds, Mark Gillespie from Michigan and John Roche of California, have been ordered by a Massachusetts federal court to cough up nearly $25.8 million. This is all in restitution and penalties to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The absurdity, it seems, is endless.
Picture this: The ruling was handed down last Wednesday by the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, putting the final nail in the coffin of a long-running fraud that revolved around the fraudulent sale of a so-called “virtual currency” known as My Big Coin (MBC). What a fantastic name! Too bad it wasn’t backed by anything except the sheer audacity of the con artists involved.
In case you’re wondering, the court wasn’t feeling particularly lenient, slapping them with a civil penalty of $19.3 million and an additional $6.4 million in restitution to make things right for all the poor souls who were duped into believing this glorified piece of digital fantasy. I mean, who wouldn’t trust a currency that was allegedly backed by gold, only to realize that, much like a magician’s trick, it was all smoke and mirrors?
The CFTC, in a stunning moment of transparency, revealed that from January 2014 to June 2017, the defendants peddled MBC as a “fully functional” digital currency. Of course, this currency had no market presence, no backing, and was simply a ploy to separate unsuspecting customers from their hard-earned cash. Over $6 million from at least 28 customers was collected under these false pretenses, but the funds vanished like the mirage they were—thanks to co-defendant Randall Crater, who, for his efforts, got himself sentenced to over eight years in prison.
The court’s decision finally brings an end to the civil enforcement claims against Gillespie, Roche, and the two Nevada-based My Big Coin companies, imposing a permanent ban on trading for the defendants. They are now barred from engaging in any CFTC-regulated markets or even registering with the agency. That’s right, folks, no more chances to ruin anyone else’s financial future. What a relief!
As for Crater, the mastermind behind this whole charade, he has already been sentenced in a separate criminal case and was ordered to forfeit and repay a whopping $7.6 million. Oh, how the mighty fall.
“The CFTC, in a rare moment of honesty, noted that while the funds may be ordered to be repaid, it’s highly likely that the victims will never see a cent of it. After all, the wrongdoers may not have any assets left to repay. But fear not, the CFTC will keep on fighting to ensure these miscreants are held accountable… as if there’s anything left to squeeze out of them,” the agency boldly proclaimed.
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2025-06-15 00:40