Kevin Helms
A student of Austrian economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open source systems, network effects and the intersection of finance and cryptography.
Founders of Multimillion-Dollar Global Crypto Ponzi Scheme ‘Airbit Club’ Plead Guilty – Regulation Bitcoin News
The founders and promoters of multimillion-dollar cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme Airbit Club have pleaded guilty to various criminal charges. Airbit Club victims were promised “guaranteed daily returns on any membership purchased,” the US Department of Justice (DOJ) said.
Airbit Club’s operators and organizers plead guilty
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Wednesday that six people behind Airbit Club, a crypto Ponzi scheme that masqueraded as a cryptocurrency mining and trading company, have pleaded guilty.
The six individuals are Airbit Club co-founders (Pablo Renato Rodriguez and Gutemberg Dos Santos), senior promoters (Karina Chairez, Cecilia Millan and Jackie Aguilar), and a lawyer who laundered Airbit Club’s fraudulent proceeds (Scott Hughes). According to the DOJ:
As part of their guilty pleas, the defendants have collectively been ordered to forfeit their fraudulent proceeds from Airbit Club, which include seized or withheld assets consisting of US currency, bitcoin and real estate valued at approximately $100 million.
The promoters “falsely promised victims that Airbit Club earned returns on cryptocurrency mining and trading, and that victims would earn passive, guaranteed daily returns on any membership purchased,” the DOJ detailed.
The Justice Department explained that beginning in late 2015, the defendants marketed Airbit Club as “a multi-level marketing club in the cryptocurrency industry.” They traveled the world to host “lavish exhibitions and small community presentations” across the US, Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe to convince victims to buy Airbit Club cash memberships. After purchasing a membership, victims were given access to an online portal with false representations of profit from bitcoin mining or trading, when in reality there was no such activity.
The Ministry of Justice described:
Instead, Rodriguez, Dos Santos, Millan and Aguilar enriched themselves, spending victim money on cars, jewelry and luxury homes, and financing more extravagant displays to recruit more victims.
Many victims faced obstacles when trying to withdraw money from the Airbit Club Online Portal as early as 2016, the DOJ stated, adding that complaints to a promoter “were met with excuses, delays and hidden fees amounting to more than 50 % of the Victim’s requested withdrawal.” Some victims were unable to withdraw money at all.
All six individuals have pleaded guilty to various charges, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit bank fraud. These charges carry a maximum potential sentence of 20 years, 20 years and 30 years in prison, respectively.
How many years do you think the Airbit Club founders and promoters should spend in prison? Let us know in the comments section below.
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