The U.S. Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has charged a Nevada company and its owner in an $11 million cryptocurrency fraud and misappropriation scheme.
According to the release dated Oct. 16, the CFTC has filed an action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada charging David Gilbert Saffron and his company Circle Society Corp. The release accuses Saffron of fraudulent solicitation, misappropriation and registration violations related to an $11 million binary options scheme using cryptocurrency.
The complaint charges the defendants with conducting fraudulent trades of off-exchange binary options on foreign currencies and cryptoassets, soliciting at least $11 million in funds from investors. Saffron guaranteed investors a return of up to 300% all while misappropriating funds that were supposed to be pooled towards trading binary options.
CFTC Chairman Heath P. Tarbert commented,
Digital assets and other 21st century commodities hold great promise for our economy. Fraudulent schemes, like that alleged in this case, not only cheat innocent people out of their hard-earned money, but they threaten to undermine the responsible development of these new and innovative markets. America must be a leader in this space, and we will only succeed if these markets have integrity.
The CFTC is seeking full restitution for defrauded investors as apart of the ongoing litigation.
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