Fraud and Misappropriation Cases
United States v. Sam Bankman-Fried (2023)
Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of FTX, was convicted on seven charges of fraud and conspiracy following the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, in November 2022. He was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison.
Mt. Gox Bankruptcy and Fraud (2014)
Once the world's largest Bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy after losing approximately 850,000 Bitcoins. Its CEO, Mark Karpelès, was later charged with embezzlement and data manipulation.
Bitfinex Hack and Money Laundering Case (2024)
Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan were convicted for laundering 119,754 Bitcoin stolen from Bitfinex in 2016.
BitConnect Ponzi Scheme (2023)
A federal court ordered over $17 million in restitution to approximately 800 victims of the BitConnect scheme, which defrauded thousands of investors worldwide.
Centra Tech ICO Fraud (2018)
Founders of Centra Tech were charged with orchestrating a fraudulent ICO, raising over $25 million by misleading investors with false claims of partnerships with major financial institutions.
AriseBank Fraud Case (2018)
The SEC halted AriseBank's ICO, which falsely claimed to have raised $600 million. The company misled investors by stating it had purchased a federally insured bank.