As an analyst with over two decades of experience in the financial industry, I’ve seen my fair share of scams, but this one takes the cake. The audacity of these three individuals, posing as legitimate professionals from well-known U.S. firms and defrauding unsuspecting investors out of millions in Bitcoin is simply astounding.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused three individuals from Nigeria of swindling investors out of approximately 2.9 million dollars, which was held in Bitcoin.
As reported by the SEC, these individuals allegedly created false online platforms, social media profiles, and utilized voice-modifying technology to masquerade as authentic financial experts. Their primary aim was to deceive at least 28 unsuspecting individuals.
The accused individuals – Chibuzo Augustine Onyeachonam, Stanley Chidubem Asiegbu, and Chukwuebuka Martin Nweke-Eze – are said to have falsely claimed they represented established American companies as brokers and advisors.
Instead of creating genuine professional sites, they constructed counterfeit ones, complete with fabricated endorsements supposedly from clients. Utilizing social media and online chat platforms, they enticed potential investors to place their trust in them.
The perpetrators instructed victims to purchase Bitcoin from reputable exchanges and move the money to the con artists’ digital wallets on the blockchain. To add authenticity to their scheme, these offenders established phony investment sites that displayed inflated portfolio development, deceiving investors into thinking they were accumulating profits.
Legal action
In a federal court in New Jersey, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has brought charges against the accused parties, alleging they breached U.S. regulations concerning securities and investments. The SEC aims to impose penalties such as returning the misappropriated funds with accrued interest and imposing financial penalties.
In separate instances, it is the New Jersey branch of the U.S. Attorney’s Office that has brought forth criminal accusations against these three people.
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2024-12-11 22:10