A Cali Tech Firm and CEO Charged by CFTC for $7M Crypto Scam

According to a press release on Thursday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced charges against a California-based company known as Vista Network Technologies, and its CEO, Armen Temurian, with fraudulent solicitation and misappropriation of customers' digital asset commodities.

In the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, the CFTC alleges the defendants fraudulently solicited over $7 million worth of bitcoin and ether from customers. The complaint also alleges the defendants misappropriated a portion of these assets in a Ponzi-like scheme.

In its continuing litigation against the defendants, the CFTC seeks restitution, disgorgement, civil monetary penalties, permanent trading and registration bans, and a permanent injunction against further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations, as charged.

"This action demonstrates our ongoing commitment to use the tools at our disposal to hold bad actors accountable in the digital asset space," said CFTC Acting Director of Enforcement Gretchen Lowe. "It is just one more example of the CFTC's efforts to protect retail customers from fraud related to digital asset commodities."

Source: CFTC