SEC Charges Creator of Global Crypto Ponzi Scheme and Three US Promoters in Connection with the Fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Nov 4 announced charges against Douver Torres Braga, Joff Paradise, Keleionalani Akana Taylor, and Jonathan Tetreault for their roles in Trade Coin Club, a fraudulent crypto Ponzi scheme that raised more than 82,000 bitcoin, valued at $295 million at the time, from more than 100,000 investors worldwide.

According to the SEC's complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, Braga created and controlled Trade Coin Club, a multi-level marketing program that operated from 2016 through 2018 and promised profits from the trading activities of a purported crypto asset trading bot. The SEC alleges that Braga and Paradise lured investors with false representations that the bot made "millions of microtransactions" every second, and that investors would receive minimum returns of 0.35 percent daily. However, instead of deploying investor funds for the purported trading bot, Braga allegedly siphoned off investor funds for his own benefit and to pay a network of worldwide Trade Coin Club promoters, including Paradise, Taylor, and Tetreault.

The SEC further alleges that Trade Coin Club operated as a Ponzi scheme and that investor withdrawals came entirely from deposits made by investors, not from any crypto asset trading activity by a bot or otherwise. The complaint further alleges that Braga personally received at least 8,396 bitcoin of the amounts invested (worth $55 million at the time), Paradise received 238 bitcoin (worth more than $1.4 million at the time), Taylor received 735 bitcoin (worth more than $2.6 million at the time), and Tetreault received 158 bitcoin (worth more than $625,000 at the time).

Source: The Securities and Exchange Commission