Latest news about Bitcoin and all cryptocurrencies. Your daily crypto news habit.
The U.S. SEC freezes assets of several alleged crypto scams run by Hvizdzaks brothers.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has halted activity of another alleged cryptocurrency-related scam stealing millions of dollars from investors.
According to a SECās announcement on June 19, the authority has been granted a temporary restraining order and asset freeze against two Pennsylvania-based brothers allegedly running three crypto scam schemes. According to the SEC, Sean Hvizdzak and Shane Hvizdzak lied about their crypto fund performance by fabricating financial statements, instead redirecting investor funds to their own accounts with banks as well as crypto exchanges.
As ruled by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Hvizdzaks, Hvizdzak Capital Management, LLC, High Street Capital, LLC, and High Street Capital Partners, LLC, are temporarily halted from operation for violating the anti fraud provisions of federal securities laws.
Hvizdzaks collected over $30 million in less than one year
The ruling comes immediately after the SEC filed an emergency action with the court on June 16. According to the SECās complaint, the Hvizdzak brothers have been involved in crypto-related fraudulent activity since at least July 2019 and continuing until May 2020. After establishing a fund to invest āin a wide variety of cryptocurrency investments,ā in March 2019, Hvizdzaks purportedly collected $31 million on one of the managed accounts.
According to the complaint, Hvizdzaks moved about $26 million from the fundās account to personal accounts at banks as well as popular crypto exchanges like Binance, Winklevoss twins-founded Gemini, and Bittrex. In the filing, the SEC emphasized that itās hard to trace stolen funds once they are converted into cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC).
The securities regulator wrote:
āOnce this fiat currency, in this case U.S. dollars, is exchanged for a digital asset, Defendants can transfer the digital assets anywhere in the world with no bank and no government forms.ā
According to the SEC, the court will consider the further asset freeze and the issuance of a preliminary injunction at a hearing on June 30, 2020.
As a major global financial regulator, the SEC is actively fighting fraudulent activity in the crypto industry. In March 2020, the authority froze assets of an alleged crypto scam backed by a former state senator.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of Bitcoin Insider. Every investment and trading move involves risk - this is especially true for cryptocurrencies given their volatility. We strongly advise our readers to conduct their own research when making a decision.