Insurance
Home›Insurance›Liability Insurance›Judge orders over $30 million in restitution in crypto…
Judge orders over $30 million in restitution in crypto scam case
The CFTC said the scheme promised guaranteed returns but relied on fictional weekly trading profits and did not trade customer funds.
A federal judge in Florida ordered two individuals to pay more than $30 million in restitution and penalties in a case involving an alleged cryptocurrency and precious metals fraud, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Sept. 30.
The CFTC said the defendants were Brian Early and Alisha Ann Kingrey, who were hit with default judgments in a 2023 lawsuit filed against a trading website called Fundsz and its founder, Rene Larralde.
According to the CFTC, the scheme promised guaranteed returns, but it allegedly generated fictional weekly returns and did not trade any customer funds after the agency froze the company’s assets. The CFTC also alleged the pair promoted the company in Telegram chats, misrepresenting historical profits and downplaying risks.
Kingrey said she never defrauded anyone, never met the founder in person, and that customers were paid until the government froze the company’s assets. She also said she had no means to pay the court sanctions, adding, “You can’t get blood from a turnip,” and referencing a Chime ban.