Six people involved in a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme that netted some $100 million over five years have pleaded guilty to a series of fraud and money laundering charges, each carrying a maximum penalty of 20 to 30 years in prison.
One of the founders of the “AirBit Club”, Pablo Renato Rodríguez, was the last to be charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud on March 8.
According to a March 8 statement by the Department of Justice of the United States of America, AirBit Club was a fake cryptocurrency mining and trading company that operated between 2015 and 2020, where executives and supporters deceived victim investors into earning returns on credit.purchased by any member.
Businessmen and lawyers defend multi-billion dollar global cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme “AirBit Club” https://t.co/MT3mM9aqPV
According to the DOJ, the perpetrators traveled across the United States, Asia and Eastern Europe to market AirBit at “exhibition giveaways” to persuade investors to buy AirBit Club memberships.
The victims “profit” in the AirBit Club online portal, but the actual mining or trading never took place.One of the victims who were trying to withdraw money was asked to bring “new blood” to AirBit Club to withdraw their funds.
US Attorney Damian Williams said the workers used the victims’ money to buy luxury cars, homes and jewelry.A part of the profits is also used to fund more exhibits, in order to recruit more victims;
“He used the growing hype around cryptocurrency to lure unsuspecting victims into the world out of millions of dollars, with false promises that their money would be invested in cryptocurrency mining and trading.”
“Instead of doing any cryptocurrency trading or mining for hostages, the defendants built a Ponzi scheme and lined the victims’ money to their pockets,” he added.
The defendants were first charged on August 18, 2010.
When the authorities act, Caecilia Millán, Jackie Aguilar and Karina Chairez pleaded guilty to each other in a series of counts of fraud conspiracy, fraud conspiracy and money laundering, conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy on January 31, February 8 and February 22, while another founder Gutenberg Dos Santos pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering charges on October 21, 2021, according to a March 8 plea.
“These guilty pleas send a clear message that we’re going to go after everyone who tries to commit cryptocurrency fraud,” Williams said.
The traders were ordered to seize AirBit Club scams that include fiat money, real estate and bitcoin (BTC), collectively valued at around $100 million.
Cointelegraph found that AirBit Club’s representatives still appear to be planning a marketing program on YouTube.
The scheme often used the hashtag “#AirBitBillionaireClub” and shared various fake stories of investor success to try to attract more victims.
California attorney Scott Hughes, accused of laundering bank income, also pleaded guilty to money laundering charges on March 2.
Rodríguez, Millán, Aguilar, Chairez and Hughes will be sentenced at different times between June and August of this year.
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