Fraud and false statements
After the crypto crash, here’s what industry experts are waiting for next
A visual representation of Bitcoin cryptocurrency. Edward Smith | Getty Images Cryptocurrency companies dominated the main street at the World Economic Forum in Davos this year, a notable difference between this edition and the last one in 2020. The high-profile presence from the industry came even as the cryptocurrency market crashed. It was sparked by […]
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Michael Avenatti sentenced to 4 years in prison for stealing from Stormy Daniels
Stormy Daniels and attorney Michael Avenatti are seen at The Abbey on May 23, 2018 in West Hollywood, California. Tara Ziemba | Getty Images A federal judge in New York on Thursday sentenced disgraced lawyer Michael Avenatti to four years in prison for stealing from his former client, onetime adult film actor Stormy Daniels, who […]
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Do Kwon is unlikely to face prison time for $60 billion UST crypto wipeout — fines and lawsuits are more likely
Do Kwon, co-founder and chief executive officer of Terraform Labs, leaves the company’s office in Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday, April 14, 2022. Woohae Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images Do Kwon, the 30-year-old South Korean founder of a $60 billion stablecoin project that imploded last month, has a knack for convincing people to buy […]
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Former OpenSea employee charged in first-ever NFT insider trading case
U.S. prosecutors are now going after insider trading in the crypto industry. On Wednesday, prosecutors in New York’s Southern District charged and arrested Nathaniel Chastain, a former product manager at the online marketplace OpenSea. The 31-year-old faces one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, in connection with a scheme to commit […]
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Fraud had ‘significant’ role in $163 billion leak from pandemic-era unemployment system
Courtneyk | E+ | Getty Images More than $163 billion in benefits likely leaked from the unemployment system during the pandemic, with a “significant portion” attributable to fraud, according to a U.S. Department of Labor report. Congress created many new programs in March 2020 to support millions of people who lost their jobs from the […]
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SEC’s Hester Peirce says the U.S. has dropped the ball on crypto regulation
WASHINGTON — The U.S. has dropped the ball on crypto regulation, according to Securities and Exchange Commissioner Hester Peirce, and she says the knock-on effects of that failure keep her up at night. “There’s a lot of fraud in this space, because it’s the hot area of the moment,” Peirce told CNBC on the sidelines […]
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That vacation rental listing could be a scam. These are the warning signs to look out for
Ozgurcankaya | E+ | Getty Images Biggest warning sign The biggest red flag that a listing is a scam is when you are asked to leave a listing platform such as Vrbo or Airbnb in order to provide a payment, Couch-Friedman said. A fake real estate owner will ask a consumer to send $500, for […]
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‘Pharma bro’ Martin Shkreli released from federal prison and into New York halfway house
Former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli departs the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, August 3, 2017 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Getty Images Notorious “Pharma bro” fraudster Martin Shkreli was released from a federal prison in Pennsylvania on Wednesday and into a U.S. Bureau of Prisons halfway house […]
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Five U.S. states order a metaverse casino with alleged ties to Russia to halt sale of NFTs
Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwards Source: Flamingo Casino Club Regulators in five states simultaneously filed emergency orders Wednesday against a virtual casino they say has ties to Russia and that has been operating in the metaverse, a digital world where participants can interact with each other, purchase products and even gamble. State law enforcement officials […]
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France becomes first big European nation to grant crypto giant Binance regulatory approval
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao gave a keynote at a Paris crypto industry event in April 2022 to debut a new accelerator program for so-called “Web3” start-ups. Benjamin Girette | Bloomberg | Getty Images Binance has been granted approval from regulators to operate its cryptocurrency exchange in France. The company is now listed as a registered […]
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