Titanium Blockchain CEO and founder was sentenced to four years and three months for defrauding ICO investors of $21 million.
The CEO and founder of Titanium Blockchain Infrastructure Services (TBIS) was found guilty of cheating ICO investors out of $21 million and sentenced to four years and three months in jail.
CEO of Titanium Blockchain is sentenced
After admitting guilt to one count of securities fraud last year, Titanium Blickchain’s CEO, Michael Alan Stollery, was sentenced. Stollery only received a third of the maximum 20-year sentence that might have been given for that offense.
Before Stollery was charged with a crime, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the US took action on the Titanium ICO. Following the scam against ICO investors in the US and elsewhere, the regulator banned the ICO in May 2018. In December 2017 and March 2018, when the ICO market peaked, the fraudulent project raised $21 million in just three months.
Yet another phony ICO
Using its native token, BAR, Titanium Blockchain provided chances for cryptocurrency investments. Nevertheless, Stollery misled investors when he was promoting the ICO by making a number of bogus claims. The bogus enterprise claimed to have connections with the Federal Reserve and a number of well-known businesses, including PayPal, Boeing, and Walt Disney, through its white paper ads and social media advertising.
The 54-year-old Entrepreneur admitted to faking the promotional materials to entice investors in his guilty plea.
As a result of Stollery not investing the money raised in any blockchain development, the fraudulent ICO continued. He abused the ICO revenues by mixing them with his own money and using some of it to buy a condo in Hawaii.
The BAR token was deemed an unregistered security by the authorities, and Stollery was held accountable for failing to register with the SEC or obtain an exemption from the requirement to register.
A misguided exit plan
As Titanium Blockchain reported a large token theft from its wallets, the securities authority took action. The BAR token’s price fell by 95% after the announcement in February, forcing cryptocurrency exchanges to stop selling it.
The leader of many bitcoin schemes has been criminally pursued by US law enforcement. Chet Stojanovich received a three-year sentence this month for defrauding 12 bitcoin mining equipment buyers of $2 million. Additionally, he was required to forfeit over $2.15 million and pay the victims over $2.1 million in reparations.
Eddy Alexandre, the founder of EminiFX, also pleaded guilty to soliciting $248 million from tens of thousands of investors. He pleaded guilty to one count of commodities fraud and faces a possible 10-year sentence. He also forfeited $249 million and repaid victims.
