DOJ Indicts Duo in $25M AI Cryptocurrency Ponzi Scheme

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has indicted two individuals for allegedly overseeing a $25 million artificial intelligence (AI) cryptocurrency trading Ponzi scheme.

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged David Gilbert Saffron, an Australian national, and Vincent Anthony Mazzotta Jr., a resident of Los Angeles, with operating trading programs that misrepresented the utilization of an automated trading bot powered by artificial intelligence to trade victims’ investments in cryptocurrency markets and generate substantial returns, according to the announcement dated December 12.

However, claims have arisen that the two individuals spent the funds on “private chartered jet flights, luxury hotel accommodations, private mansion rentals, a personal chef, and private security guards” after receiving user deposits.

Furthermore, the defendants concealed the victims’ cryptocurrency investments by utilizing interchain transfers and cryptocurrency mixers to avoid detection. Circle Society, Bitcoin Wealth Management, Omicron Trust, Mind Capital, Federal Crypto Reserve, and Cloud9Capital were some of the aliases by which the scheme operated.

Since sanctioning cryptocurrency aggregator Tornado Cash last year, the U.S. DOJ has devoted considerable effort to enhancing the compliance of blockchain entities.

The DOJ disclosed its methods for monitoring Binance’s compliance with U.S. sanctions and money laundering, which it had settled for $4.3 billion, on December 9. Various sections of the DOJ’s criminal division will closely monitor the activities of the exchange.

The responsible sections include counterintelligence and export control, money laundering and asset recovery, national security, and the office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington.