The Division of Justice introduced that Joshua Nicholas, a 28-year-old Florida man who acted as head dealer for ostensible cryptocurrency platform EmpiresX, pleaded responsible to participating in a Ponzi scheme that finally scammed $100 million from its victims.
Nicholas admitted that, with a number of unnamed co-conspirators, his firm claimed that it used an AI-powered buying and selling bot that may maximize earnings. In reality, nevertheless, if anybody ever did generate income from the scheme, it got here from the deposits of later traders, which is just about the definition of a Ponzi scheme. The corporate additionally claimed it had registered the funding program as an providing and sale of securities with the Securities and Alternate Fee, although in reality it had by no means taken any steps to take action.
Nicholas pleaded responsible to 1 depend of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and faces a most penalty of 5 years in jail. A sentencing date has not but been scheduled.
All investor victims of the EmpiresX scheme are inspired to go to this webpage to determine themselves as potential victims and acquire extra data on their rights as victims, together with the flexibility to submit a sufferer affect assertion.