Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and a key figure in high-profile crypto prosecutions, including the Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) case, will resign on Dec. 13. Deputy U.S. Attorney Edward Y. Kim will serve as Acting U.S. Attorney until a Trump nominee, possibly Jay Clayton, takes over pending Senate confirmation.
The CFO of a prominent multinational media company, Weidong Guan, a/k/a Bill Guan, has been charged with participating in an elaborate scheme to launder approximately $67 million in illicit funds. Guan, who served as CFO for The Epoch Times headquartered in New York City, was arrested recently and will appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero.
The brothers Anton Peraire-Bueno, 24, and James Peraire-Bueno, 28, were arrested in Boston and New York, respectively, for a sophisticated scheme to exploit the Ethereum blockchain and steal $25 million in cryptocurrency. The indictment, unsealed today, charges the brothers with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Cryptocrime is one of the fastest-growing cybercrime segments.
In the coming weeks, the legal fate of two prominent figures in the crypto world will unfold, with Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), founder of the now-defunct FTX platform, set to receive his sentence. Concurrently, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the co-founder and former CEO of Binance, awaits his sentencing on April 30, 2024, after he pleaded guilty to violating US financial regulations. The prosecution has proposed sentences spanning several decades for SBF and no less than 18 months for CZ, hinting at the gravity of their offenses.
Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and James Smith, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the FBI, have unveiled an Indictment charging Odogwu Banye Mmobuosi, also known as Dozy Mmobuosi, with securities fraud, making false filings with the U.S. SEC, and conspiracy charges. Mmobuosi is still at large.
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, recently announced a significant development in the notorious OneCoin case. Irina Dilkinska, 42, formerly known as the 'Head of Legal and Compliance' for OneCoin, has pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and money laundering in connection with her role in the colossal OneCoin fraud scheme. The sentencing is scheduled for February 2024.
Victor Bozzo, previously holding the titles of CEO and CCO, and Edward O’Donnell, the ex-CFO of Pareteum Corporation, have been indicted for allegedly manipulating the publicly traded telecom company's reported revenue. The indictment was unsealed by Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and James Smith, the FBI's New York Field Office Assistant Director.
In a significant development, U.S. prosecutors have charged Alexander Mashinsky, 57, the former CEO of Celsius Network, with defrauding customers and providing misleading information about the company's operations. He has pleaded not guilty and was released on a $40 million bond. His attorney, Jonathan Ohring, stated that Mashinsky vehemently denies the allegations and looks forward to a robust defense in court.
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that the boiler room operators Christopher Wright and Steven Hooper were sentenced to 52 months in prison and 42 months in prison, respectively, for defrauding elderly victims in connection with the fraudulent sale of stock and fake carbon credits as part of an over $16 million international telemarketing scheme. In total, victims lost over $16 million. Wright and Hooper previously pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff, who imposed the sentences.Â