Shambhavi Soni
Prosecutors say the scam was one of as many as 20 similar crypto frauds run by a group of Serbian nationals that bilked investors out of as much as $70 million. It was a crypto heist straight out of a Steven Seagal film, complete with a private eye, a staged kidnapping, and millions of cash that vanished into thin air.
The prosecution says that nearly 500 investors will enter the cash and password coin mining business of more than $ 11 million in the fraud, leaving the existing password coin mix and making up to 200% profit within 60-90 days. It was revealed that it could be done.
However, instead of making huge profits, federal prosecutors and SEC investigators revealed that funds had flowed into an overseas account managed by Serbian Australian fraudster Kristijan Krstic, who was suspected of fraud and lived in the Philippines. did.
Last week, 55-year-old California private detective John DeMarr, who was at the forefront of the fraud case, pleaded guilty to helping the fraud with about $ 2 million used to buy Porsche and BMW, and $ 1 million. I have repaid the above debt. And you can fund his Seal Beach home luxury remodelling. He was sentenced to up to five years in prison when he was sentenced on January 4, 2022.
A broader scam
A few days after DeMarr’s indictment was announced in February, a federal inspection in Texas conducted widespread criminal charges for alleged full-body fraud and money laundering of Krstic and 15 other defendants (mostly Serbs). Has been released. In this case, the group is suspected of committing as many as 20 similar password monetary frauds involving investors up to $ 70 million.
The SEC placed an ad in a Serbian newspaper when Krstic believed he was detained in Serbia but tried to file another civil lawsuit whose exact whereabouts were unknown. Krstic was unable to contact you immediately due to comments. According to Investigator
,DeMarr enlisted in 2017 to promote Start Options, an online investment platform that provides password mining, trading, and digital asset trading services. The SEC has announced that it has served as Chief Financial Officer of Start Options, assuming the plan’s pseudonym is Felix Logan, as Krstic was suspected of implementing the Ponzi scheme in Australia and Canada in the past.
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DeMarr said his client was unaware of Krstic’s actual identity for more than a year after the plan began.
The outfit claims to operate a large crypto mining farm in China and can generate between 25% and 200% revenue within two months based on the money invested. Investors have received false statements that their money is growing, even though they haven’t actually invested anything, the prosecution said.
When investors started asking for money after two months, they said they were rolling over to the first offer of a new cryptocurrency known as Bitcoin2Gen (or B2G). Everyone they invested in. Investors said they could withdraw at any time, but no one got their money back, the SEC said.
According to investigators, DeMarr then hired a former attorney who lost his license to create press releases and technical white papers upon launch. Most of that was copied from other successful crypto-currency launch white papers. According to the SEC, Demaru is starting to promise investors that the new currency will return 8,000 times.