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Four Russians were accused in the United States of exploiting a crypto pyramid and a ponzi scheme that ripped off millions of dollars' worth of investors. If found guilty, they would face up to 20 years in jail for their role in the so-called decentralized financial (defi) platform forsage.
Forsage Founders Charged With Running Cryptocurrency Pyramid
A federal grand jury in the District of Oregon returned an indictment on Wednesday charging the founders of a defi crypto investment platform for what authorities believe to have been a global Ponzi scheme. The entity, Forsage, allegedly raised around $340 million from its victims, according to an announcement by the U.S. Justice Department.
The four accused — vladimir okhotnikov, olena oblamska, mikhail sergeyev and sergei maslakov — are citizens of Russia. Some have used one or more pseudonyms while actively promoting the project via their website and social media as a legitimate, lucrative and low-risk business opportunity. Sergeyev, for instance, ran under the name of Mike Mooney or Gleb Million.
Forsage has been announced to the public as a decentralised matrix project based on network marketing and intelligent contracts. In fact, it was put in place and managed as a ponzi and pyramidal investment plan that defrauded investors worldwide. The accused are both accused of plotting electronic fraud. If convicted, they are liable to imprisonment for up to 20 years.
Judicial papers suggest that Russian nationals have deployed smart contracts on ethereum, smart chain binance, and tron blockchains. Code analysis has shown that once someone has invested in Forsage by purchasing what is called a "slot" in a smart contract, The money went to pay Forsage investors earlier.
U.S. Prosecutor Natalie Wight of the Oregon District pointed out that the indictment was the result of an investigation which lasted several months. “Bringing charges against foreign actors who used new technology to commit fraud in an emerging financial market is a complicated endeavor only possible with the full and complete coordination of multiple law enforcement agencies,” she elaborated.
Blockchain forensics confirmed that over 80% of Forsage investors received fewer ether (ETH) back than they had invested in its Ethereum program. In addition, at least one intelligent contract was used to divert money from investors to cryptocurrency accounts controlled by the founders.
Forsage went live in January 2020. The Russians' impeachment takes place in August, last year, US securities and the foreign exchange committee (sec) 11 persons, the platform's four co-founders and seven sponsors, for their contribution to the creation and promotion of the crypto pyramid fraud and the ponzi system.
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