Joshua David Nicholas pleaded guilty on Thursday, 8 September, to participating in a “Ponzi scheme” that caused around $100m in damages. In June, he and top management at EmpiresX were accused of running a crypto pyramid scheme.
In promotional material, Empires Consulting Corp claimed to use a special trading bot. It allegedly guaranteed profits of 1% daily.
The program combined AI and the experience of real traders, and used it to make predictions about the movement of cryptocurrencies. But in practice it turned out to be a common scam.
The company turned out to be a pyramid scheme, in which early investors received dividends by attracting new clients. Damages caused by the scammers amounted to about $100 million.
In June, the Ministry of Justice brought charges against the firm’s top management. In particular, Joshua’s chief trader David Nicholas came under suspicion. He pleaded guilty to one of the charges on Thursday, September 8.
Two others involved in the case left the US for Brazil at the start of the summer. They withdrew some funds and then stopped contacting each other. As for Nicholas, he faces up to 5 years in prison.
Earlier we told about a fake “Ponzi scheme” from one of Terra’s critics. Its organiser raised about $100,000 in two hours.
