The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced on Wednesday that a federal court judge in Massachusetts issued a default judgment, ordering My Big Coin Pay, Inc., My Big Coin, Inc., and their executives Mark Gillespie and John Roche to pay a civil penalty of $19.32 million, as well as $6.44 million to investors who were allegedly defrauded by them.
Gillespie, Roche, and the aforementioned companies are also prohibited from participating in the market or engaging in any other market-related activities governed by the CFTC.
The CFTC claims that from January 2014 to June 2017, Gillespie, Roche, and another operator, Randall Crater, solicited investors through My Big Coin (MBC), defrauding 28 investors of over $6 million.
The case against one of the accused operators, Michael Kruger, has been dismissed due to his death.
The CFTC alleges that the defendants solicited investors under false pretenses and made "false and misleading statements and omissions" regarding the value, use, and trading status of MBC, falsely claiming that MBC was backed by gold.
The CFTC warned defrauded investors that they may not be able to recover their funds, "as the wrongdoers may not have sufficient funds or assets."
Earlier this year, a court ordered Crater to pay $7.6 million to investors he allegedly defrauded.
In February 2024, an appeals court denied Crater's request for a new trial, as his legal team claimed the court violated his Sixth Amendment rights.
On January 31, 2023, Crater was sentenced to over 8 years in prison after being convicted by a grand jury in July 2022 of four counts of wire fraud, three counts of illegal money transmission, and one count of operating an unlicensed money transfer business.
Related: Hong Kong develops cryptocurrency tracking tools to address money laundering issues
Original article: “My Big Coin executives ordered to pay nearly $26 million in fines to CFTC”
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