SEC busts massive trade fraud as fraudsters show they prevail everywhere

Several naysayers of the cryptocurrency industry have their reasons pegged to one major point: that fact that digital assets will be a gateway for a slew of scams and nefarious activities. Many claim that that lack of a centralized overwatch authority will be the main reason why fraudsters will have a jolly time looting people of their holdings.

A piece of recent news, however, has brought to light that corruption and scams are prevalent in the mainstream finance industry, too. The SEC on October 17, today, froze assets of 18 traders in the case of alleged fund manipulation.

The majorly-China based traders had reportedly reaped profits of over $31 million by scheming and plotting international market manipulation ideas. The SEC Chief of Market Abuse unite Joseph G. Sansone stated:

“We allege that defendants engaged in an extensive manipulation scheme and went to great lengths to evade detection, placing trades in over one hundred separate accounts at several different brokerage firms and submitting falsified documents to open new accounts in the names of others.”

The traders had used legitimate organizations to gain money and had executed the plans mostly on American companies despite being based out of China themselves.

Xiasong Wang and Shun Sui, two traders who are involved in the fraud, had allegedly earned upwards of $6200 in illegal profits by trading shares of Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment Inc, a Connecticut based TV, and online content producer. The SEC further pointed out:

“The defendants knew, or were reckless in not knowing, that they were engaging in a securities fraud scheme.”

Apart from trade fraud charges, two of those involved in the scandal were also subject to criminal charges. No concrete decision has been made as of yet about the scam, but bringing the charged in front of US courts will be the difficult tasks as they are of Chinese citizenship.

There is no denying that fraudsters and bad actors prevail everywhere, be it within the cryptocurrency industry or in the mainstream fiat industry. Looking at those facts, it should be evident that regulatory bodies look at the world of digital assets with a more open mind rather than just focusing on the negative, which, to be fair, are spread within the standard financial sector too.

Disclaimer: The presented information is subjected to market conditions and may include the very own opinion of the author. Please do your ‘very own’ market research before making any investment in cryptocurrencies. Neither the writer nor the publication (TronWeekly.com) holds any responsibility for your financial loss.