US Prosecutors File Charges Against Four Crypto Companies
Federal prosecutors yesterday filed charges against four alleged market makers, several crypto projects, and more than a dozen individuals for their involvement in manipulating various cryptocurrency markets.
The documents, which were unsealed on Wednesday, detail how these entities engaged in wash trading, artificially inflating the value of certain tokens, to profit from fees and the sale of these manipulated coins.
The crypto projects involved in this scheme were Gotbit, CLS Global, MyTrade, and ZM Quant, each of whom wash traded different tokens to create the appearance of legitimate activity.
They then sold these tokens at artificially inflated prices to others, while also marketing them on various platforms and convincing exchanges to allow them to purchase tokens at reduced fees.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission also brought charges against ZM Quant and employees Baijun Ou and Ruiqi Lau; Gotbit and employee Feder Kedrov; and CLS Global and employee Andrey Zhorzhes. Additionally, the SEC charged several individuals described as “crypto asset promoters,” including Russell Armand, Maxwell Hernandez, Manpreet Singh Kohli, Nam Tran, and Vy Pham.
