March 2022 noticed JetCoin scammers Dwayne Golden, Mardy Eger and Gregory Aggesen arrested.
The trio have been indicted on prison prices associated to their operation of the JetCoin Ponzi scheme. Concurrently, the CFTC additionally filed paralell civil fraud prices.
What I didn’t know up till as we speak was the CFTC additionally investigated confederate James Ward.
Ward (proper) escaped indictment and arrest. He additionally escaped civil prices by the CFTC.
As per the CFTC’s investigation into Ward;
In or round Might 2017, Ward, along with accomplices, started doing enterprise as JetCoin and launched the JetCoin web site.
Ward drafted the JetCoin web site’s content material. Ward additionally registered the JetCoin web site by a registration firm positioned in Arizona, to an handle in Arkansas.
Ward, collectively along with his accomplices, managed the web site and the purported funding alternative introduced by, and have been principals of, the JetCoin scheme.
Prospects have been promised assured income primarily based on buying and selling of Bitcoin, a digital forex that could be a commodity in interstate commerce, completed by a workforce {of professional} merchants or by recruiting extra clients into the purported funding alternatives.
Nevertheless, the purported funding alternative was, in reality, a Ponzi scheme wherein payouts of supposed income to clients essentially consisted of different clients’ misappropriated funds.
As a substitute of buying and selling buyer investments, Ward and his accomplices misappropriated most of the Bitcoin for themselves.
BehindMLM reviewed JetCoin in June 2017, appropriately figuring out it as a Ponzi scheme.
When Ward grew to become conscious of a separate FTC investigation right into a JetCoin promoter in 2018, he colluded to delete subpoenaed proof.
On or about June 5, 2018, certainly one of Ward’s accomplices obtained a subpoena from the Federal Commerce Fee in reference to an investigation regarding at the very least one promoter of JetCoin.
That confederate solicited Ward’s recommendation on how to reply to the subpoena. Ward suggested that confederate to delete any paperwork associated to JetCoin on the confederate’s laptop and offered directions on how to take action, at one level explaining that that confederate ought to search “jet” in his emails and delete all the outcomes.
Ward additionally advised that confederate on a number of events that, in his view, the confederate ought to both gentle his laptop on hearth or throw it in a lake.
In the long run, that confederate was in a position to delete the contents of his laptop, and submitted the cleaned laptop to the FTC on or about June 27, 2018.
All in all JetCoin scammed shoppers out of ~$21.7 million. Ward and his accomplices misappropriated $7.8 million, of which Ward himself obtained $509,000.
Somewhat than defend himself towards the CFTC’s allegations, Ward opted to settle the CFTC’s then preliminary case.
Ward’s settlement order was issued by the CFTC on March eighth, 2022. As a part of Ward’s settlement, he admitted to all the CFTC’s findings towards him.
Ward was additionally
completely prohibited from, immediately or not directly, partaking in buying and selling on or topic to the principles of any registered entity, and all registered entities shall refuse Ward buying and selling privileges.
As to disgorgement and a civil penalty, the CFTC is free to file for financial aid each time it sees match.
Presently the CFTC’s civil case towards Golden, Eger and Aggesen has been stayed, pending the result of prison proceedings.
I’ve been monitoring JetCoin proceedings month-to-month however, for the reason that April 2022 keep, there hasn’t been something substantial to report on.
James Ward, in violation of his CFTC settlement, continued to defraud shoppers by Full Velocity.
Launched in February 2022, Full Velocity was one other purported crypto buying and selling scheme.
Full Velocity collapsed in Might 2022, producing upward of 90% losses for buyers. Ward tried to reboot Full Velocity in June 2022, nonetheless the reboot doesn’t appear to have gone wherever.
Full Velocity’s web site continues to be up however SimilarWeb is monitoring negligible site visitors.
