The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) charged a Nevada man on May 19 for participating in a cryptocurrency scheme called CoinDeal.
The DOJ said Nevada resident Bryan Lee conspired with CoinDeal leader Neil Chandran to defraud investors through Chandran’s companies.
Lee was the nominee owner and director of one such company, ViMarket, which claimed to be developing VR and “metaverse” technologies and an associated cryptocurrency. While Chandran promised “extremely high returns” to investors, Lee followed Chandran’s instructions and deposited investor funds into ViMarket’s bank accounts.
Both individuals spent millions of dollars in embezzled money on non-business expenses, including luxury cars and property, the DOJ said.
Lee faces up to 110 years in prison for various charges of conspiracy, mail fraud, telegraphic fraud and entering into money transactions on criminally obtained property. He has not yet been found guilty and will appear in court for the first time immediately.
The DOJ announced separate charges against Chandran in June 2022, who was also arrested at the time. The agency also said another conspirator, Michael Glaspie, will plead guilty in February 2023 and will be sentenced in June.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged eight parties additional fees in January 2023 in connection with the CoinDeal scheme.
CoinDeal stole approximately $45 million from a total of 10,000 victims.
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