The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CTFC) is charging an Ohio man for soliciting over $12 million and 10 Bitcoin (BTC) in an alleged Ponzi scheme.
According to a new press release, the CTFC is taking civil enforcement actions against Rathnakishore Giri and his two companies for allegedly soliciting funds from 150 clients in a fraudulent manner.
The CFTC is also charging Giri’s parents – Giri Subramani and Loka Pavani Giri – as relief defendants for allegedly possessing funds to which they have no legitimate interest.
“The complaint charges that from approximately March 2019 through the present, the defendants engaged in a fraudulent scheme in which they solicited and accepted over $12 million and more than 10 Bitcoin from at least 150 customers to invest in various digital asset investment funds purportedly operated by the defendants.
According to the complaint, the defendants made numerous false and misleading statements in their solicitations to customers, including, guarantees of profits, and Giri’s supposed success as a digital asset trader.”
The CTFC also claims that Giri lied to investors about material facts and ran his companies like Ponzi schemes, using the money he gathered from customers to fund a luxurious lifestyle.
“The complaint also alleges in their solicitations to customers, the defendants omitted material facts, including the defendants misappropriated customer funds to pay profits to other customers in a manner akin to a Ponzi scheme and also misappropriated customer funds to pay for Giri’s lavish lifestyle, which included yacht rentals, luxury vacations and luxury shopping.
The complaint further alleges the defendants commingled customer funds with Giri and the relief defendants’ funds when the defendants transferred customer funds to Giri and the relief defendants’ personal bank and digital asset trading accounts.”
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