A 57-year-old Brian Li from Las Vegas was charged in connection with participation in a CoinDeal investment-fraud scheme, with losses exceeding $45 million. The U.S. Department of Justice reports.
According to court documents, Li conspired with Neil Chandran, who controls a number of companies under the ViRSE brand. In particular, the entities include Free Vi Lab, Studio Vi Inc., ViDelivery Inc., ViMarket Inc., and Skalex USA Inc. All of them allegedly were developing a metaverse with an internal cryptocurrency.
The co-conspirators promised high returns to potential investors, citing an upcoming purchase of the project by a consortium of wealthy buyers.
According to the department, Li, named as the nominal owner of ViMarket, transferred the funds received to the personal accounts of the scheme’s organizers, under Chandran’s instruction. The millions of dollars obtained from more than 10,000 victims were spent by the perpetrators on luxury cars and real estate.
Li has been charged with conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, and conducting monetary transactions with property derived from criminal activity. Taken together, the charges carry up to 30 years in prison.
Chandran was arrested in June 2022 for alleged involvement in the scheme. Another co-conspirator, Michael Glaspie, who marketed investments in CoinDeal’s companies, agreed to one count of fraud using electronic means in February 2023. A final sentence will be handed down on June 16.
Earlier ForkLog reported that the developers of the decentralized exchange Swaprum on the Arbitrum L2 network have allegedly vanished with around $3 million in cryptocurrency.