SEC charges two brothers with using cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme to illegally raise millions of dolla
According to the SEC’s complaint, the brothers used investor funds to finance a lavish lifestyle, including cars and a multimillion-dollar apartment. The SEC alleges that they operated a $60 million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme that claimed to have a cryptocurrency trading robot that could earn a 13.5% monthly return, but in fact the trading robot did not exist.
The SEC states that from January 2023 to June 2024, the brothers told investors that their robot could identify arbitrage opportunities on cryptocurrency trading platforms and could buy and sell assets simultaneously to exploit price differences between different markets. They promised that investors’ funds would be used for lending pools to fund flash loan transactions.
But in fact, the trading scheme was completely fraudulent and the trading robot did not exist. Instead, the SEC alleges that they misappropriated $53.9 million of the $61.5 million to buy luxury goods, entertainment tools and a million-dollar apartment for themselves.
To stop the scheme, the SEC has frozen the assets of Jonathan and Tanner Adams’ companies GCZ Global, LLC and Triten Financial Group LLC.