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Is cryptocurrency still the future of money? Does fortune still favor the brave? Asking for a friend because two men was recently arrested for operating a $25 million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme.
The two men, David Gilbert Saffron, 51, of Australia, and Vincent Anthony Mazzotta Jr., 52, of Los Angeles, were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to obstruct justice, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and money laundering.
It was quite the elaborate scheme they had going on too until they got nabbed.
According to a Department of Justice press release, Saffron and Mazzotta promoted investment programs under names like Circle Society, Bitcoin Wealth Management, Omicron Trust, Mind Capital, and Cloud9Capital.
They also claimed they would be using an artificial intelligence automated trading bot to trade their clients’ investments.
Unfortunately for their clients, rather than do any of that, Saffron and Mazzotta used their money to pay for things like private chartered jet flights, luxury hotel accommodations, private mansion rentals, a personal chef, and private security guards.
Then when their clients’ money vanished they used fake names and online personas to ask their clients to pay another fake company they created, the Federal Crypto Reserve, to investigate and recover their financial losses.
They even tried to hide their assets, conceal or destroy evidence, and falsify records once the jig was up.
“The defendants also allegedly conspired to conceal the source and location of victims’ cryptocurrency investments through various means, including using methods known as “blockchain hopping” and through services known as “mixers” or “tumblers” that are designed to prevent cryptocurrency tracing,” reads the DoJ statement.
Now they each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, 20 years in prison for each wire fraud count, 10 years for each money laundering count, and five years for conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Saffron might have another 10 years tacked on to whatever sentence he receives because he committed his felonies while on pre-trial release.
I think I will just stick with NFTs.
History is filled with almosts — those who almost adventured … who almost achieved … but ultimately, for them it proved to be too much. Then there are others: The ones who embrace the moment and commit. And in these moments of truth, these men and women, these mere mortals, just like you and me … as they peer over the edge, they calm their minds and steel their nerves with four simple words that have been whispered by the intrepid since the time of the Romans: “Fortune favors the brave.” — Matt Damon