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Famous film producer, Atlanta has been found guilty of wire fraud and money laundering charges for promoting fraudulent crypto investment schemes. These schemes have allegedly deceived around $2.5 million in investment funds.
U.S Department of Justice (DOJ) stated in the official indictment that a 48-years old crook named Ryan Felton has transferred $2.4 million proceeds in investment from Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and trading markets to his account.
“The defendant used 21st-century technology to perpetrate an age-old fraud:lying to investors to steal their money and fund his own lavish lifestyle,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. “Felton’s conviction should serve as a warning to anyone who seeks to capitalize on emerging technology to victimize others.”
According to U.S. Attorney Buchanan and other official documents presented in the court, Felton promoted an initial coin offering (ICO) for a new entertainment streaming platform called FliK in 2017.
To provide credibility to his claim and entice investors, he lied to people that a famous Atlanta rapper and actor was a co-owner of FLiK. He also falsely represented that the United States military would distribute the streaming platform to service members.
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However, whatever promises he made before the ICO close was nothing but just lies. Just after the closing of the ICO, Felton dumped over 40 million FLiK tokens in trading markets, plunging its market value.
Apart from this, instead of using these investors’ funds to develop a streaming platform, Felton spent this money on his extravagant lifestyle, including all-cash purchases of a $1.5 million residence, a $180,000 red 2007 Ferrari 599 GTB Fioran Coupe, a new $58,250 Chevy Tahoe, and approximately $30,000 in diamond jewelry.
After getting the taste of the first fraudulent crypto product, Felton promoted another ICO for the so-called crypto exchange, CoinSpark. These times he tricked investors through the false promise that he would share 25% profit of the crypto exchange with Spark coin investors.
He also counterfeited investors about the firm’s audit that a global accounting firm would audit CoinSpark’s finances on a quarterly basis. In reality, he never contacted that accounting firm.
To create a fake hype about CoinSpark, he appeared on various social media accounts under a fake name.
The official document stated that “Atlanta, Georgia, pleaded guilty to twelve counts of wire fraud, ten counts of money laundering, and two counts of securities fraud on the fourth day of his jury trial.”
Sentencing for these charges on Felton will be scheduled at a later date before U.S. District Court Judge J.P. Boulee.
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