Crypto crime (financing terror, money laundering, fraud, ponzi, etc.)

[searcher]

Indian Man Pleads Guilty to Creating Spoofed Coinbase Website, Stealing $9.5M in Crypto​

According to court documents, Chirag Tomar used his ill-gotten gains to buy Rolexes, Lamborghinis, Porches and more.​

An Indian citizen pleaded guilty this week to U.S. charges that he created a fake version of Coinbase's website, letting him steal login credentials on the real thing and plunder more than $9.5 million of cryptocurrency from hundreds of victims.

Chirag Tomar, 30, was arrested at the Atlanta airport on Dec. 20, 2023, while visiting family on a travel visa. He was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Both carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

More:

https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/04/19/indian-man-pleads-guilty-to-creating-spoofed-coinbase-website-stealing-95m-in-crypto/

 

[searcher]

Montreal woman loses close to $25,000 in crypto platform scam

A Montreal woman says she lost close to $25,000 on a fake crypto trading platform she thought was developed by Elon Musk, highlighting the dangers of online scams, which are becoming more and more sophisticated.

montreal.ctvnews.ca

 

[pmbug]

Sounds like Chirag Tomar should be charged with theft/fraud charges for every Coinbase account he stole from.

 

[searcher]

Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao Should Spend Three Years in Prison, DOJ Says​

The DOJ wants Zhao to serve 36 months after his guilty plea last year.​

Binance's founder and former chief executive, Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, should spend three years in prison for his role in enabling the crypto exchange to violate federal sanctions and money laundering laws, the U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday night. The former CEO's attorneys argued he should serve no jail time, citing the fine he paid and his "extraordinary acceptance of responsibility."

Attorneys with the DOJ filed a sentencing memo arguing he should spend 36 months in prison and pay a $50 million fine after he pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act last November. Hours later, Zhao's defense team filed its own sentencing memo, saying "no defendant in a remotely similar BSA case has ever been sentenced to incarceration." Instead, they suggested he be sentenced to probation, which could include home confinement at his home in Abu Dhabi.

More:

https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/04/24/binance-founder-changpeng-zhao-should-spend-3-years-in-prison-doj-says/

 

[searcher]

The Most Dangerous Crypto Scam in the World​

Apr 25, 2024
Natashya Gutierrez travels to Southeast Asia to explore a dark new form of online scamming, known as “pig butchering”, that is involuntarily perpetuated by victims of human trafficking forced to steal for the Chinese mafia who run these manipulative scams; David Noriega investigates the deaths and disappearances of Moroccan migrants as they attempt to cross the Spanish border at Melilla and examines how outsourced European immigration policies may ultimately be responsible for these tragedies.

This segment is from the show ‘VICE’ which originally aired in Jun 2023.


13:56

 

[searcher]

How the Bitcoin Pharaoh Scammed $3.7B Out of Brazil​

Apr 25, 2024

Who is the Bitcoin Pharaoh, AKA Glaidson Acacio dos Santos? Is this former preacher a crypto Robin Hood, and legitimate cryptocurrency investment broker, digitally redistributing wealth, helping the local ‘masses’ in Cabio Frio, Brazil profit from this new cyberspace gold rush, just like the white elites? Or is he a crook, a con artist, and a dangerous criminal crypto kingpin, violently controlling his territory and rightfully imprisoned, facing multiple charges of racketeering, money laundering, a host of other financial crimes, as well as 3 counts of murder. The answer you get to these questions will depend on who you ask.


22:29