According to CryptoPotato, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged 17 people with allegedly operating a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme that defrauded thousands of Latino investors in the United States of approximately $300 million.
According to the regulator's official release, the alleged fraudsters operated under a company called CryptoFX LLC in Houston, Texas. The SEC accused the two main operators of CryptoFX, Mauricio Chavez and Giorgio Benvenuto, of targeting more than 40,000 mostly Latino investors in the United States through a Ponzi scheme. From May 2020 to October 2022, CryptoFX posed as a crypto asset and foreign exchange market trading platform, with 17 accused individuals acting as leaders of the network. These leaders from Texas, California, Louisiana, Illinois, and Florida solicited investments from victims, promising returns ranging from 15% to 100%.
The alleged fraudsters used the funds to pay purported returns to other investors and to pay themselves commissions and bonuses. The SEC seeks to recover ill-gotten gains and civil penalties.
