According to recent reports, three Canadians face charges of allegedly swindling investors of $8 million for the 2017 PlexCoin ICO scam.
Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud and Securities Fraud
The three individuals, Dominic Lacroix, Sabrina Paradis-Royer and Yan Oullet, face five counts, including money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy; securities fraud and wire fraud charges.
Investigators believe that the scammers have taken part in the transfer of millions of investment funds swindled from them through the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) dubbed PlexCoin.
According to the legal team behind the investigation and the case, the three individuals used the funds; for their daily living expenses and the renovation of their homes. In addition, the indictment continues to argue that the three have misinterpreted PlexCoin to investors through a number of websites and social media campaigns.
Misrepresentation of PlexCoin Management
Oullet, Paradis-Royer and Lacroix made false presentations on behalf of the management of PlexCoin and stated that the management of the company consisted of a team of professionals based in Singapore. The three promised investors a return of 1,354 percent within 30 days of investing their money in the ICO. The ICO raised $8,269,218 for the alleged PlexCoin firm.
This is the most recent ICO fraud charge. Meanwhile, the United States Securities and Exchanges Commission has frozen Paradis-Royer and PlexCorps with an emergency asset freeze back in 2017. This was part of a legal indictment that accused the firm of going against security legislation. The Exchange Commission renewed the freeze in 2018 and described Dominic Lacroix as a “recidivist Quebec securities violator”
Meanwhile, the Chainanalysis report indicates that scammers and thieves hold approximately 300,000 bitcoins. The report went on to state that cryptocurrency exchanges were the final destination for illegal crypto.