Creator of fake cryptocurrency My Big Coin found guilty of $6 million fraud

Prosecutors said that Randall Crater defrauded investors between 2014 and 2017 by claiming the asset was backed by $300 million in gold

23.07.2022 - 08:15

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What’s new? The creator of My Big Coin (MBC), a fake cryptocurrency, Randall Crater has been found guilty of fraud in which he defrauded investors of $6 million. The verdict was handed down on July 21 by a federal jury in Boston, Reuters reports. In 2018, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a lawsuit against Crater and his company My Big Coin Pay Inc. Prosecutors said that he defrauded investors between 2014 and 2017 by claiming My Big Coin was backed by $300 million in gold and could be bought and sold on a virtual exchange.

Information on the Reuters website

What do law enforcement officers say? Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Markham told jurors in his opening statement at trial that the allegations were “made up,” as were Crater’s statements about partnering with MasterCard. Markham added that My Big Coin “was not even a real cryptocurrency” because it lacked a blockchain that tracked transactions

According to prosecutors, a total of 40 people were defrauded of $6 million, which Crater spent on cars, jewelry, artwork, and antique coins. Crater’s lawyer Scott Lopez of Lawson & Weitzen argued that Crater had done nothing wrong and that investors of My Big Coin were aware of the risks inherent in virtual currencies.

Earlier, the US Department of Justice accused Block Bits Fund founder Japheth Dillman of cryptocurrency fraud. According to the department, he misled investors and induced them to invest around $960 000 in an autotrader, a bot that makes arbitrage transactions with cryptocurrencies on exchanges, that did not actually exist.

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