New York AG Letitia James has filed a lawsuit against cryptocurrency companies Nova Tech, Ltd and AWS Mining Pty Ltd., along with their founders and promoters, alleging that the companies operated illegal pyramid and Ponzi...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission brought charges against Xue Samuel Lee, the co-founder of HyperFund, and Brenda Indah Chunga, also known as “Bitcoin Beautee,” the fund’s top promoter, for securities violations. ...more
Affinity fraud is a type of investment fraud. In this form of fraud, the person committing the fraud preys upon members of an identifiable group, such as a religious or ethnic community, the elderly, or a professional group....more
This summer was a busy one for cryptocurrency regulators, with aggressive actions potentially signaling an increase in consumer protection compliance activity. In August alone, the New York Department of Financial Services...more
In the 1920s, a new form of investment fraud roared into the markets with the advent of the Ponzi scheme. Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a complaint captioned SEC v. Okhotnikov et al. in the...more
Over the past two years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has stepped up enforcement actions against pyramid schemes and related affinity frauds. Last week, in a speech at the University of Illinois at Chicago,...more
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) recently issued an Investor Alert (the “Alert”) to warn investors about the most prevalent types of investment fraud and provide guidance on how to avoid being defrauded....more
The Commission announced its largest whistleblower action this week – an award to a person overseas of over $30 million. The agency also filed a series of actions this week....more