A U.S. court sentenced 47-year-old Swedish national Roger Nils-Jonas Karlsson to 15 years in prison for securities fraud and money laundering. The sentence is disclosed in a statement by the Justice Department.
Since 2011, he urged investors to put funds into Bitcoin and other assets in Eastern Metal Securities, promising “astronomical profits”. According to authorities, Karlsson spent the money on buying expensive homes, a racehorse, and a resort in Thailand.
The damages were estimated at more than $16 million.
In November 2019, Karlsson was extradited to the United States from Thailand. On March 4, 2021, the Swede pleaded guilty.
Earlier, the founders of the cryptocurrency project Dropil, Jeremy Makalpin and Zahari Matar agreed to plead guilty to an ICO fraud worth nearly $1.9 million.
The U.S. Secret Service placed several individuals on the bureau’s list of the most-wanted fugitives for cryptocurrency-related crimes.
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