The chief defendant in an alleged $15 million initial coin offering (ICO) fraud case has submitted a formal reply to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). On Aug. 20, Reginald Middleton shared a copy of a memorandum of law against the agency’s application for a preliminary injunction to continue a temporary asset freeze against him and affiliated entities. As reported, the SEC’s injunction implicated Middleton, together with the New York company Veritaseum Inc. and the Delaware-based company Veritaseum LLC. The case The SEC’s case against Middleton and Veritaseum alleges that material misrepresentations and omissions were made to investors …

A Supreme Court judge in British Columbia (BC), Canada, has denied a motion to set aside an asset freeze, which was requested by the defendants in a multimillion dollar cryptocurrency fraud case. The defendants had filed to set aside an interim preservation order that was issued by the British Columbia Civil Forfeiture Office in order to prevent case-related assets from being sold or accumulating debt. Vancouver news daily The Province reported the ruling on Aug. 19. According to the report, the defendants, Lisa Angela Cheng and Kevin Patrick Hobbs, stand accused of committing fraud, tax evasion and money laundering. Alleged …

Over $240 million in proceeds from the alleged crypto scheme PlusToken have reportedly moved through four Bitcoin (BTC) transactions. Whale Alert — a Twitter account dedicated to reporting large cryptocurrency transactions — posted on Aug. 17 that four transactions totaling 22,923 BTC were likely the proceeds of PlusToken. The four transactions moved 6,000 BTC, 5,000 BTC, 7,000 BTC and 4,923 BTC. All the transactions took place on Aug. 17. The monitor admits that, while the transactions are likely associated with the purported scheme, they are unconfirmed. Largest reported exit scam As Cointelegraph reported in an analysis of the biggest crypto …

Crypto market aggregator CoinGecko has joined the network of blockchain analytics and anti-money laundering (AML) company Coinfirm. This partnership will reportedly allow CoinGecko to improve its exchange Trust Score algorithm, as well as provide users with a means to report scams and hacks. The companies shared a press release with Cointelegraph on Aug. 16. According to documentation from Coinfirm, the company runs the AMLT network that allows members to report cryptocurrency addresses tied to hacks, ransomware, scams and fraud. Coinfirm then blocks these users and funds across the AMLT network. In return for supplying good information, Coinfirm rewards its members …

Luxembourg’s financial regulator, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), says that a seemingly crypto-related entity called Cryptominingoptionsignal claims to be licensed in Luxembourg, but is not. In a warning notice dated Aug. 13, the country’s watchdog simply wrote: “The Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) warns the public of the activities of an entity named Cryptominingoptionsignal [...] The CSSF informs the public that Cryptominingoptionsignal is unknown to it and that the entity has not been granted any authorisation to provide investment services or other financial services in or from Luxembourg.” Innovation in Luxembourg As previously reported by …

A United States District Court has entered an emergency freeze to preserve $8 million of a New York citizen and two of his entities’ related assets following the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) complaint filed on Aug. 12. Per the SEC's announcement published on Aug. 13, the court ordered the temporary freeze of at least $8 million of the $14.8 million raised by the defendants. The sum was reportedly raised by Reginald Middleton and two entities under his management, Veritaseum, Inc. and Veritaseum, LLC, in 2017 and 2018 by conducting an allegedly fraudulent and unregistered initial coin offering. The …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a complaint against a New York-based man and two of his companies. The SEC alleges that these entities conducted a fraudulent and unregistered ICO from late 2017 to 2018, and is requesting that a U.S. District Court issue an emergency freeze on the defendants' related assets. Hindenburg Research shared the SEC’s filing for a jury trial in a post on Aug. 12. According to the document, the commission is formally filing a complaint against Reginald Middleton, the New York company Veritaseum Inc. and the Delaware-based company Veritaseum LLC. Prayer for …

Cryptocurrency mining hardware manufacturer Bitmain has accused a cryptocurrency project of falsely using its name in the promotion of a product dubbed Mangocoin (MNG). In an Aug. 9 blog post, Bitmain states that it came across a fraudulent use of its brand in the sale of a product dubbed “Bitmain Cloud Miner” and in the promotion of Mangocoin. The fraudsters allegedly masqueraded as Bitmain and promoted the products on their website, application and software. Bitmain thus warned the public that Mangocoin and its social media accounts, website, application and dedicated groups in messenger apps are not the company’s business channels …

Computer analysts at cybersecurity firm Zscaler ThreatLabZ have found a new type of trojan that targets cryptocurrency users. In a blog post published on Aug. 8, the company reveals that it identified a new remote-access trojan (RAT) that is able to capture administrative control of the targeted computer, retrieve browser history and look for activities involving cryptocurrency, credit cards, business, social media and others. The malware is called Saefko and is written in .NET, a software framework developed by Microsoft and used to develop a wide range of applications. The post further explains: “RATs are usually downloaded as a result …

Wealthy businessman Eike Batista has been arrested by federal police on account of suspected money laundering, which they believe he achieved by trading Bitcoin (BTC) on his wife’s behalf. The details of Batista’s arrest were reported by Cointelegraph Brasil on Aug. 8. Prosecutors reportedly found notes indicating that he had traded BTC for his wife, who is not currently being investigated. The Federal Prosecutor wrote: "Although the suspect’s wife, Mrs. Flávia, is not being investigated, it is quite possible, given the evidence of such a usual means of money laundering that the suspect was using the wife's name and account …

The Bureau of Securities in New Jersey has issued two emergency orders to the companies Zoptax and Unocall to end their initial coin offerings (ICOs). The Bureau alleges that the token offerings qualify as fraudulent unregistered securities offerings. The Office of the Attorney General in New Jersey announced the Bureau's orders in a news release on Aug. 7. In the case of Zoptax, the report states that the company is offering the cryptocurrency Zoptax Coins through a website-conducted ICO. The website apparently states that the ICO has a soft cap of $500,000, as well as a hard cap goal of …

Public enterprise blockchain platform VeChain has partnered with Autralian winemaker Penfolds to release a case of blockchain-encrypted wine bottles for sale, as part of its Wine Traceability Platform (WTP) initiative. More specifically, the launch of Penfolds Bin 407 in July marks the beginning of VeChain’s WTP phase 2, per a press release from VeChain on Aug. 6. The bottles from this case are reportedly available at the Waigaoqiao International Alcohol Exhibition & Trading Center, D.I.G.’s Flagship Store and the Sen Lan Shang Du in Pudong New District. As per the press release, each bottle inside Bin 407 comes attached with …