The owner of the now-defunct exchange BitFunder has pleaded guilty to federal charges of obstruction of justice and securities fraud, Reuters reports.
John Montroll, also known as Ukyo, 37, pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice, admitting that he provided false balance sheets to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in its investigation into the 2013 fake attack on the BitFunder exchange in which 6,000 BTC disappeared from the exchange, prosecutors said.
Montroll operated the BitFunder exchange, which users could sell virtual shares of companies for bitcoin, as well as the bitcoin exchange WeExchange Australia Pty Ltd. Montroll is believed to have stolen the bitcoin assets of WeExchanges users, converted them into fiat, and used them to cover personal expenses.
In July 2013, Montroll also began promoting a securities investment he called Ukyo.Loan, promising investors daily interest compounding and a simple repayment process. However, following the theft of 6,000 BTC, Montroll failed to pay amounts owed to Ukyo.Loan investors and clients of WeExchange and BitFunder, continuing to solicit investments without disclosing the hack.
In February, the SEC and the Department of Justice formally charged Montroll with operating an unregistered securities exchange, defrauding users of said exchange, and making “false and misleading statements in connection with an unregistered offering of securities." The aforementioned cyberattack resulted in the loss of more than 6,000 BTC, which was valued at approximately $720,000 at the time and is worth more than $45 million today.
Earlier this month, Cointelegraph reported that The Greek court decidedto transfer the case of the former manager of the BTC cryptocurrency exchange, Alexander Vinnik, to the French court for consideration. Vinnik, also known as Mr. Bitcoin, was charged by US authorities with fraud and money laundering using bitcoin in 2017 amounting to $4 billion.
According to cointelegraph.com
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