US DOJ indicts nine founders for operating a crypto ponzi scheme

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Law enforcement agencies in the United States don’t seem to hold back in their efforts to rid the country of crypto-clad scams. The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday arrested nine people for running a crypto ponzi scheme that posed as a trading and mining company.

Damian Williams, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and his partner, Homeland Security Special Agent Ivan J. Arvelo, announced the two separate indictments against the founders and promoters of Weltsys.

The promoters, namely Marco Ruiz, David Carmona, Moses Valdez, Gustavo Rodriguez, David Brend and Juan Arellano, have been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud for being accomplices to IcomTech from 2018 to mid-2019.

Promoters of Forcount, namely Juan Tacuri, Antonia Perez. H and Francisley Da Silva were also charged with conspiracy to wire fraud due to their involvement from 2017 to 2021. Meanwhile, Silva and Tacuri were also arrested as accomplices in money laundering, while ‘Antonia was charged with making false statements.

Weltsys scam operations

The DOJ indictment report alleged that Weltys started out as a crypto mining and trading company that offered its investors good profits in exchange for purchasing certain crypto-related products.

The Weltsys group also promised its investors a guaranteed daily return on their investments and the possibility of doubling it in six months.

But it turned out that the founders and promoters of both schemes were using victims’ money to pay more victims, publicize the schemes and profit from them themselves; in fact, neither company traded or mined cryptocurrencies.

The founders also held lavish presentations across the United States and other countries where they used top-notch graphical representations of their high-dividend investments to attract more victim investors.

Founders were also highly visible at large-scale events where they usually showed up with fancy cars, clothes, and jewelry to attract attention and possibly cause more casualties.

The DOJ and Homeland Security have declared war

The case is currently being handled by the Money Laundering and Transnational Criminal Enterprises Unit, and the charges in the indictments are still considered mere allegations until proven otherwise by the court.

However, Damian Williams says these two indictments will send a strong message to other crypto scammers and assure them that the DOJ is coming for them.

Special Agent Arvelo also said the huge excitement around the cryptocurrency and its potential for high dividend yields lured victims to the scheme. He also reiterated that Homeland Security will continue its efforts to crack down on purveyors of financial crimes and scams in any form.

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