In the United States, Rodney Burton, known as Bitcoin Rodney, was arrested at the request of the IRS. He is linked to the fraudulent crypto project HyperVerse, which amassed $7.85 million.
Burton has been charged with operating an unlicensed money transfer business.
Founded in June 2020, HyperVerse, which did not obtain legal entity status, was also marketed as HyperFund, HyperCapital, and HyperNation.
“A network of promoters […] conducted fraudulent promotional presentations for investors and potential contributors. HyperFund falsely claimed that those who acquired ‘memberships’ would start receiving daily rewards of 0.5% to 1% until doubling or tripling their initial investments,” the IRS statement said.
The scheme’s creators attributed the profits to bitcoin mining. According to the agency, no such activity took place.
The IRS reports that Burton received 562 transfers totaling $7.85 million.
According to Guardian Australia, thousands of people lost millions of dollars to HyperVerse.
Journalists discovered that the scheme was launched by HyperTech and promoted by CEO Steven Reece Lewis, whose existence could not be confirmed.
In December, the US Department of Justice charged the organizers of a $25 million crypto scam.
Earlier, the Southern District of New York court sentenced AirBit Club international pyramid scheme employees Scott Hughes, Cecilia Millan, and Karina Chaires to prison terms ranging from one to five years.
In November, US prosecutors charged the founders and executives of the DeFi project SafeMoon with fraud involving “millions of dollars.”