According to court documents, BitConnect's founder, Satish Kumbhani, 36, of Hemal, India, misled investors about BitConnect's "Lending Program." Under this programme, Kumbhani and his co-conspirators promoted BitConnect's alleged proprietary technology, known as the "BitConnect Trading Bot" and "Volatility Software," as being capable of generating substantial profits and guaranteed returns by trading on the volatility of cryptocurrency exchange markets with investors' money. However, according to the indictment, BitConnect operated as a Ponzi scheme, paying earlier BitConnect investors with money from later investors.
Kumbhani and his co-conspirators raised a total of $2.4 billion from investors.
The indictment also claims that after about a year of operation, Kumbhani abruptly shut down the Lending Program. Kumbhani then directed his promoter network to fraudulently manipulate and prop up the price of BitConnect's digital currency, a commodity known as BitConnect Coin (BCC), in order to create the appearance of legitimate market demand for BCC. Kumbhani and his co-conspirators also concealed the location and control of the fraudulent proceeds obtained from investors by commingling, cycling, and exchanging the funds through BitConnect's network of cryptocurrency wallets and various internationally based cryptocurrency exchanges.
According to the indictment, in order to avoid regulatory scrutiny and oversight of BitConnect's cryptocurrency offering, Kumbhani violated US financial industry regulations, including those enforced by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). For example, despite the fact that BitConnect ran a money-transfer business through its digital currency exchange, the company never registered with FinCEN, as required by the Bank Secrecy Act.
"Crime, especially crime involving digital currencies, continues to cross international borders," said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. "The department is committed to protecting victims, preserving market integrity, and fortifying its global partnerships in order to hold criminals involved in cryptocurrency fraud accountable." We thank our global partners for their ongoing efforts."
"This indictment alleges a massive cryptocurrency scheme that defrauded investors of more than $2 billion," Southern District of California U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman said. "The United States Attorney's Office and our law enforcement partners are dedicated to bringing cryptocurrency fraud victims to justice."
"Today's indictment reaffirms the FBI's commitment to identifying and prosecuting bad actors who defraud investors and undermine legitimate entrepreneurs' ability to innovate in the emerging cryptocurrency space," said Special Agent in Charge Eric B. Smith of the FBI's Cleveland Field Office. "Dressing up a tried and true fraud scheme with a new twist and basing it overseas will not deter the FBI's determination and dedication to meticulously investigate and bring such fraudsters to justice."
"As cryptocurrency grows in popularity and attracts investors around the world, alleged fraudsters like Kumbhani are using increasingly complex schemes to defraud investors, often stealing millions of dollars," said Special Agent in Charge Ryan L. Korner of the IRS Criminal Investigations' (IRS-CI) Los Angeles Field Office. "However, make no mistake: our agency will continue its long tradition of following the money, whether physical or digital, to expose criminal schemes and hold the fraudsters accountable for their illegal acts of deception and trickery."
Kumbhani is accused of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodity price manipulation, running an unlicensed money transmitting business, and conspiracy to commit international money laundering. If convicted on all counts, he faces a maximum total sentence of 70 years in prison.
A federal district court judge will impose a sentence based on the United States Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Kumbhani is still at large.
The case is being investigated by the FBI Cleveland Field Office and the IRS-CI.
The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Kevin Lowell of the Criminal Division's Fraud Section and Assistant United States Attorneys Daniel Silva, Mark W. Pletcher, Carl Brooker, and Lisa Sanniti of the Southern District of California. The investigation would not have been possible without the assistance of the Department of Justice's Office of International Affairs.
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