MIAMI – Three men raised tens of millions of dollars by convincing crypto investors that they had technology capable of generating guaranteed returns when they were actually running a Ponzi scheme out of Florida, according to a federal indictment.
The Securities and Exchange Commission accused the trio of using some of the investors’ money to lease a Lamborghini, shop at Tiffany & Co., make a payment on a second home, and cover other personal expenses.
Federal agents investigated Joshua Nicholas, of Stuart, and Brazilians Emerson Pires and Flavio Goncalves, of Port St. Lucie. George Piro, special agent in charge of FBI Miami, warned that although FinTech has changed, the type of crime hasn’t.
“What’s changing is they are now pushing their criminal activity into the cryptocurrency realm,” Piro said in a statement. “Investors beware. Conduct your due diligence before investing.”
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Nicholas, 28, Pires, 33, and Goncalves, 33, were able to pool at least $41.6 million from investors, misappropriated at least $5 million, and only sent $1 million to a brokerage account, according to The Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Carolyn Welshhans, the acting chief of the SEC enforcement division’s crypto assets and cyber unit, described their deceitful plot as “an unregistered offering with a slew of fraudulent statements designed to lure investors with the prospect of steady daily profits.”
In 2020, Pires and Goncalves registered Empires Consulting, and Pires…
