Mining Capital Coin CEO charged with $62 million in investment fraud

The CEO and co-founder of crypto mining and investment platform Mining Capital Coin (MCC) Luiz Capuci Jr. has been indicted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) for “alleged orchestration of a $62 million global investment fraud scheme.”

The DOJ charges Capuci with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit international money laundering in relation to multiple allegedly fraudulent schemes operated through MCC. If found guilty, he faces a maximum sentence of 45 years.

According to the DOJ indictment, Capuci (along with unnamed co-conspirators) is accused of misleading investors about the profitable potential of MCC mining packages and a native token called Capital Coin, which is owned by the “world’s largest cryptocurrency mining operation.” “ was supported. ”

As part of the mining packages, Capuci is said to have touted “significant profits and guaranteed returns from using investor funds to mine new cryptocurrency” but reportedly failed to live up to the bargain:

“However, as alleged in the indictment, Capuci ran a fraudulent investment scheme and did not use investors’ funds to mine new cryptocurrencies as promised, but instead redirected the funds to cryptocurrency wallets under his control.”

Capuci is also accused of marketing dubious MCC trading bots “with new, unprecedented technology” that could execute “thousands of trades per second” and generate daily returns for investors.

“However, as with the mining packages, Capuci allegedly operated an investment fraud system with the trading bots and did not use MCC trading bots, as promised, to generate income for investors, but diverted the funds to themselves and co. -conspirators,” it says in the DOJ’s indictment.

Additionally, MCC’s CEO and co-founder allegedly recruited MCC promoters and partners as part of a multi-level marketing program. In exchange for luring investors into the MCC ecosystem, Capuci is said to have promised everything from “Apple Watches and iPads to luxury vehicles like a Lamborghini, Porsche” and even his own personal Ferrari.

“Capuci also concealed the location and control of the fraud proceeds obtained from investors by laundering the funds internationally through various foreign cryptocurrency exchanges.”

The DOJ’s indictment was also released on the same day that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed allegations of fraud against MCC, co-founder Emerson Pires, Capuci and two Capuci-controlled companies in CPTLCoin Corp. (CPTLCoin) and Bitchain Exchanges outline (Bitchain).

According to the SEC’s complaint, “MCC, Capuci, and Pires sold mining packages to 65,535 investors worldwide and promised a 1 percent daily return over the year when paid weekly.”

The SEC claimed that investors were initially promised returns in Bitcoin (BTC), but this was later changed to MCC’s Capital Coin (CPTL), which only trades on “a Capuci-created and managed fake crypto-asset trading platform” called Bitchain could be redeemed.

However, when it came time for users to withdraw their funds, they could only purchase another mining package or lose their funds.

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The SEC claims that Pires and Capuci “received at least $8.1 million from sales of the mining packages and $3.2 million in initiation fees.”

“As the complaint alleges, Capuci and Pires have used every opportunity to extract more money from unsuspecting investors with false promises of outlandish returns and to use investor funds from this fraudulent scheme to fund a lavish lifestyle, including the purchase of Lamborghinis, yachts and real estate. said A. Kristina Littman, head of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Crypto Assets and Cyber ​​Unit.

The SEC also stated that the District Court for the Southern District of Florida last month issued an injunction against the defendants and an order freezing their assets.