Yesterday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed an injunctive action in the Southern District of Ohio against Rathnakishore Giri (Giri) and his companies, SR Private Equity, LLC and NBD Eidetic Capital, LLC. As alleged in the complaint, Giri engineered and perpetuated a Ponzi scheme designed to defraud investors interested in investing in digital assets. Under the guise that he operated a private equity investment fund with a focus on investing in digital assets, Giri seized upon the contemporary fervor for digital asset investment opportunities and lured unwitting investors to contribute over $12 million in cash and bitcoins to his funds with the promise of exceptional returns without the risk of financial loss.
The complaint alleges that Giri enticed his customers by making false and misleading statements touting his experience, guaranteeing customers profits, and ensuring customers that they could withdraw their initial investment and profits at any time. The complaint also alleges that rather than using customer funds to acquire and trade digital assets as promised, Giri simply pocketed customers’ money, using their invested funds to bankroll his lavish lifestyle—characterized by use of private jets, yacht rentals, an extravagant vacation home, a luxury car, and expensive clothing. In other instances, Giri distributed newly solicited investors’ contributions to existing investors, misleadingly describing the contributions as the…
