Kristijan Krstic extradited to U.S. to face charges in $70M cryptocurrency fraud schemes
Kristijan Krstic, the infamous Serbian man and ringleader accused of scamming investors worldwide out of more than $70 million through fraudulent cryptocurrency and binary options investment platforms, has been extradited to the United States. Krstic is faceing charges in two separate federal indictments in the Northern District of Texas and Eastern District of New York for his alleged participation in coordinated cryptocurrency and binary options schemes.
On February 3, Georgian authorities arrested Krstic, 48, in Batumi, Georgia. The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) completed the removal of Krstic on October 30 from Georgia to the Northern District of Texas.
Krstic arrived in the Northern District of Texas made his initial appearance on November 3 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, where he faced the charges levied against him before being transferred to face additional charges in the Eastern District of New York.
Krstic’s legal troubles began in March 2020 when a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Texas indicted him for his role in defrauding investors through deceptive cryptocurrency and binary options investment platforms. He, along with more than a dozen co-conspirators, was accused of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in a superseding indictment issued July 2020. ~ News Nation
Northern District of Texas
In March 2020, a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Texas indicted Krstic for his role in defrauding investors worldwide out of more than $70 million through fraudulent cryptocurrency and binary options investment platforms. Krstic and more than a dozen other alleged fraudsters were also indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in the superseding indictment in July 2020.
According to court documents, the defendants allegedly helped create and market more than 20 fraudulent cryptocurrency and binary options investment platforms, including Start Options, Trinity Mining, Hedger Tech, BTC Mining Factory, Bitcoin Trading World, Dragon Mining, BTC Trader Online, Crypto Trading World, Go Solar Mining, BTC Falcon, Perpetual Energy, Perfect-Options, Options Rider, Option Giants, Banking Options, Aeon Options, Bancde Options, Instant Options, Fast Options, and Elite Options.
Krstic is charged in the Northern District of Texas with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering in an alleged scheme to create, promote, market, and organize fraudulent online investment platforms. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count.
The FBI Dallas Field Office is investigating the case.
Eastern District of New York
In February 2021, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of New York also indicted Krstic for his role in a cryptocurrency scheme in which he solicited U.S. investors using two fraudulent online investment platforms. According to court documents, Krstic was the founder of two digital-asset investment platforms, Start Options and B2G, and also served as the chief financial officer of Start Options.
As alleged, between approximately 2017 and 2018, Krstic and others fraudulently induced U.S.-based investors to purchase securities in the form of investment contracts in Start Options and B2G. To perpetuate the fraud, Krstic allegedly used the alias “Felix Logan” and created the Twitter handle “@felixlogan_cfo” to communicate with investors in Start Options and B2G.
The indictment alleges that Start Options purported to be an online investment platform that provided cryptocurrency mining and digital-asset trading services, including trading in cryptocurrencies, commodities, stocks, and indices. Start Options also allegedly claimed that it was “the largest Bitcoin exchange in euro volume and liquidity” and that it was “consistently rated the best and most secure Bitcoin exchange by independent news media.” The indictment further alleges that B2G purported to be an “ecosystem” that would allow users to trade B2G tokens, as well as digital and fiat currencies, “on a secure, comprehensive platform.”
Krstic and others allegedly represented that once investors opened a B2G account, a deposit of B2G “open[ed] a door to all the curtains inside Aladdin’s cave. Dollars buy B2G; B2G tokens can be exchanged back into dollars, or for Euros, or for other national fiat currencies. B2G holdings can be traded for original bitcoin or other altcoins.”
“Kristijan Krstic used the hype and mystery of cryptocurrency to separate unwitting investors from their money,” said Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher of the IRS Criminal Investigation, Los Angeles Field Office. “Krstic founded two online investment platforms which allowed him to steal $7 million in investor funds before closing up shop. Fleeing the country did not stop IRS-CI and our law enforcement partners from continuing our pursuit of justice, and today’s extraction demonstrates that no criminal is out of our reach.”
According to the indictment, however, the money that investors in Start Options and B2G sent was never invested and instead, was laundered internationally to a Philippines-based financial account and digital-currency wallet and diverted to John DeMarr, a U.S.-based promoter of the fraud. Subsequently, DeMarr allegedly transferred to Krstic approximately $7 million in investor funds from B2G and Start Options, and then Krstic stopped responding to all communications and absconded with those investors’ funds. A press release issued by Start Options claimed that the company had been sold to Russian venture capitalists.
Krstic is charged in the Eastern District of New York with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, one count of securities fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
On January 31, DeMarr, 55, of Santa Ana, California, the former Director of North American Operations for Start Options and B2G, was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in the scheme.
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(Source: Department of Justice)
Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today
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