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20/05/24
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U.S. Attorney’s Office Reveals Crime Involving Fictitious Crypto Virtual Wallet
On May 17, the United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York, published a press release noting that Thomas John Sfraga pleaded guilty to wire fraud for allegedly defrauding several persons asking them to invest in a fictitious crypto “virtual wallet”.
“The defendant held himself out as ‘T.J. Stone,’ a serial entrepreneur with experience in real estate development, media relations, podcasting and cryptocurrencies, including acting as the host or emcee of cryptocurrency events in New York,” reads the press release.
He convinced the victims to invest in the fictitious crypto, promising them returns on their investments of up to 60 percent in three months. Instead of using the money as promised or claimed, he converted the monies to his own benefit, used it to pay expenses, paid earlier victims as well as business associates.
This suggests that he ran a Ponzi scheme, as it involves paying older investors using funds provided by new investors, instead of funds from legitimate profits. “For years, Sfraga brazenly lied to friends, neighbors and investors to swindle over $1.3 million of their hard-earned life savings,” said United States Attorney Breon Peace.
Sfraga is awaiting sentence, facing imprisonment of up to 20 years and restitution of more than $1.33 million. Similarly, a few days ago, it was reported that two brothers Anton Peraire-Bueno and James Pepaire-Bueno allegedly exploited the Ethereum blockchain, obtaining crypto valued at $25 million in almost 12 seconds using a scheme.
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