The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged crypto lending platform BitConnect and its top executives with a $2 billion cryptocurrency fraud. According to a September 1 <a href="https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2021-172" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">release</a>, the federal regulator has named BitConnect’s founder Satish Kumbhani and the company’s top U.S promoter Glenn Arcaro and his firm Future Money in its complaint.
<h2>SEC Sues BitConnect Founder and Top Executives for $2 Billion Fraud</h2>
American regulators have sued BitConnect for fraudulently raising $2 billion from investors through unregistered offerings. As per a complaint filed at District Court for the Southern District of New York, BitConnect ran a fraudulent “Lending Program” from 2017 to January 2018 that offered securities that weren’t registered with SEC.

The SEC alleges that BitConnect conned its customers by touting 40 percent monthly returns through a proprietary “volatility software trading bot” when no such facility existed. Instead, the defendants funneled investors’ funds to digital wallet addresses controlled by them and their top promoter Arcaro.

BitConnect had raised 325,000 Bitcoins through the entire Ponzi scheme, which were estimated to be worth $2 billion at the time (now over $15 billion).

"We allege that these defendants stole billions of dollars from retail investors around the world by exploiting their interest in digital assets. We will aggressively pursue and hold accountable those who engage in misconduct in the digital asset space,” Lara Shalov Mehraban, Associate Regional Director of SEC's New York Regional Office, stated.
<h2>BitConnect Promoter Pleads Guilty to Charges</h2>
According to the <a href="https://www.cryptoknowmics.com/news/doj-is-reportedly-investigating-tether-executives-for-possible-bank-fraud/">Department of Justice</a> (DoJ), BitConnect’s former director and promoter Glenn Arcaro pleaded guilty to fraud charges in a federal court yesterday. He has been ordered to return $24 million to investors impacted by the company. 

“Arcaro and his confidantes preyed on investor interest in cryptocurrency. As a result, a staggering number of individuals lost an enormous amount of money. To those who would be the next in line to defraud the investing public, let this action by the Department of Justice stand as a stark cautionary tale.” Acting U.S. Attorney Randy S. Grossman said.

Reports suggest that Arcaro was operating a pyramid scheme called “Bitconnect Referral Program,” which earned him 15% profit on each investment into BitConnect’s lending program. He had amassed $24 million through his illicit activities.

In a September 1 <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/director-and-promoter-bitconnect-pleads-guilty-global-2-billion-cryptocurrency-scheme" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">announcement</a>, the DoJ noted that “BitConnect operated a textbook Ponzi scheme by paying earlier BitConnect investors with money from later investors.”

US SEC Charges BitConnect Founder and Executives With $2 Billion Fraud

The US SEC has charged crypto lending platform BitConnect and its top executives with a $2 billion fraud for selling unregistered securities.

Divya is a postgraduate from Jawaharlal Nehru University specializing in International Relations and a professional writer with more than 5 years of experience writing for the web. She is an avid reader interested in the global financial system and the effects of decentralization. At Cryptoknowmics, she hopes to deliver clear and understandable content to inform readers about the latest events in the crypto sector.

US SEC Charges BitConnect Founder and Executives With $2 Billion Fraud

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