fraud

According to Bloomberg, Andrew Left, the founder of the well-known short-selling firm Citron Research, has been found guilty of manipulating stock prices using dishonest social media posts. After a three-week trial in Los Angeles, the jury ruled that Left was guilty on 13 out of 17 charges, including one count of securities fraud.Prosecutors accused Left of illegally influencing stock prices and profiting quickly from explosive tweets about dozens of companies between 2018 and 2023, earning over $20 million from it. Left stated in court that he would appeal, claiming the verdict is an attack on free speech and innocent trading behavior. He faces over 20 years in prison and will be sentenced on August 31. The case has drawn close attention from the short-selling industry, with a Yale professor stating that this ruling will have a chilling effect on short sellers.

According to Infobae, 10 judicial departments in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina coordinated a large-scale operation with security forces from various locations, which included 90 simultaneous raids. The operation resulted in the arrest of 24 individuals and the seizure of over 8 million USDT and nearly 60 million dollars in cash. Additionally, 80 mobile phones, computers, tablets, and processors were confiscated.The case investigates alleged investment fraud, which is believed to have caused losses of nearly 3 billion dollars. The coordination of this operation was handled by the Crypto Assets Assistance and Coordination Group of the Buenos Aires Attorney General's Office. According to the group's report, the seized amount exceeded the previous record held by this specialized group: during the RainbowEx operation in 2024, over 2 million dollars were seized.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the indictment of Texas resident Nathan Fuller, accusing him of committing fraud through a cryptocurrency trading scheme, raising approximately $12.3 million from about 150 investors. The SEC pointed out that Fuller sold related investment products to investors through entities such as Privvy Investments from October 2022 to mid-2024, claiming to use a self-developed AI trading robot for high-frequency arbitrage trading in cryptocurrency assets.According to the indictment, Fuller promised investors returns of over 40%-50% within 30 to 45 days and claimed that guaranteed returns of over 100% could be achieved in as little as 21 days. The SEC stated that the AI trading robot did not operate as advertised, Fuller misappropriated at least $6.2 million of investor funds for personal expenses, and used approximately $5.5 million for payouts similar to a Ponzi scheme, while misleading investors through forged account statements and false documents.

According to Cryptopolitan, the former CEO of the Singaporean crypto lending platform Hodlnaut, Zhu Juntao, has been charged with six counts of fraudulent misrepresentation for allegedly misleading users about the exposure to TerraUSD. Hodlnaut invested $317 million from user accounts into Terra's Anchor Protocol without disclosure, resulting in a loss of $189.7 million after the UST collapse. When the platform shut down in August 2022, it owed users approximately $281 million, with assets of only $88 million, creating a shortfall of about $193 million.Prosecutors allege that Zhu Juntao instructed employees to make false promises in official Telegram groups and emails during and after the UST collapse, including claims that the company had not invested in LUNA or UST and had not suffered losses. Zhu Juntao pleaded not guilty in court, and a pre-trial conference is scheduled for June 2026. If convicted, each charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

According to Bitcoin.com, the High Court of Windhoek, Namibia, revoked the bail of 8 absent defendants in a cryptocurrency fraud and human trafficking case and confiscated approximately $29,800 in bail money. The prosecution stated that the 8 individuals include 6 Chinese nationals, 1 Vanuatu national, and 1 Singaporean national, with 6 Chinese suspects tracked down to China. Namibian authorities have requested assistance from Interpol to locate them.The criminal group operated under a front company called Raylon Investments from December 2022 to October 2023. The group is suspected of recruiting unemployed Namibians and forcing them into labor. The state government stated that these employees were compelled to create fake social media accounts impersonating women from Europe and the United States to lure international victims into romantic relationships. Once trust was established, victims were manipulated into transferring money to cryptocurrency accounts controlled by the criminal group. Investigators estimate that the group stole approximately $267,800 from victims worldwide.

According to The Block, FTX's former major external law firm Fenwick & West has agreed to pay $54 million to settle claims related to its alleged assistance in facilitating Sam Bankman-Fried's fraudulent activities. In addition, the auditing firm Prager Metis has agreed to pay $11.75 million, and former Miami Heat player Udonis Haslem, as a former promoter of FTX, will pay $420,000, bringing the total to approximately $66 million.The above settlement marks the second round of resolutions in the FTX class action lawsuit, with relevant documents submitted to the Miami federal court on Friday. Fenwick denies any wrongdoing and states that it was unaware of FTX's fraudulent activities. Notably, the firm still faces another civil lawsuit for $525 million in Washington, D.C., which is not covered by this settlement.FTX collapsed in November 2022, and Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison for stealing approximately $8 billion in customer funds and is currently appealing. FTX's bankruptcy estate has returned over $5 billion to creditors.

According to SolanaFloor monitoring, a scam gang is impersonating Jupiter, airdropping fake CJUP tokens to wallets, and enticing users to connect to a scam website to steal assets.

Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway has filed a lawsuit against CoinFlip operator GPD Holdings, accusing the cryptocurrency ATM network of facilitating fraudulent transactions while charging high fees, in violation of state consumer protection laws. Over the past two years, Missouri has reported approximately 350 cases related to cryptocurrency ATMs, with losses potentially reaching millions of dollars.The lawsuit seeks compensation for consumers, imposes a civil penalty of up to $1.826 million, and issues an injunction prohibiting the company from operating in the state.

According to a news release from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Hong Kong police announced that they have joined law enforcement agencies from 9 countries and regions, including Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand, to combat cross-border fraud and money laundering activities. This operation took place from March 10 to May 7, resulting in the arrest of 3,018 individuals, involving over 138,000 fraud cases, with total losses of approximately $752 million (about HKD 5.89 billion).During the operation, law enforcement agencies froze a total of 101,989 bank accounts and successfully intercepted approximately $161 million (about HKD 1.26 billion) in fraudulent funds. Among them, the Hong Kong police arrested 870 individuals and intercepted approximately HKD 539 million in funds. The largest case involved a Singapore company that was defrauded of $36 million (about HKD 280 million), with the related funds subsequently flowing into multiple bank accounts in Hong Kong and other regions. About half of this amount was converted into stablecoins and dispersed into different virtual asset wallets, with the police successfully freezing $20 million of these funds after tracking.Investigations show that money laundering through virtual asset platforms is on the rise, and various regions need to continue enhancing their capabilities to respond to crimes involving virtual assets through intelligence sharing and collaborative mechanisms.

According to Cointelegraph, Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway has filed a lawsuit against cryptocurrency ATM operator CoinFlip, accusing it of "deliberately facilitating fraudulent transactions and profiting from them."The lawsuit claims that these fraudulent activities target "seniors and veterans" in the state, requesting the court to declare that CoinFlip violated the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, prohibiting it from operating in Missouri, and imposing a $1,000 fine for each violation over the past five years, up to a maximum of $1.826 million, while also seeking restitution for consumers. CoinFlip operates 136 crypto machines in Missouri and 4,229 nationwide. Previously, Bitcoin Depot filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to facing lawsuits and regulatory pressure.

According to the Hunan Daily, on February 9 at around 8 PM, the public security agency in Baojing, Hunan Province, China, received a report from a victim, Mr. Liu, from another province who had been scammed. He claimed that he was defrauded while purchasing virtual currency USDT online, with a total loss of 100,000 yuan. After receiving the report, the Baojing County Public Security Bureau dispatched a team of elite officers to form a special investigation group and began investigating the case overnight.The investigating officers used various investigative methods to ultimately identify the suspect as Shi. Upon investigation, it was found that the suspect Shi had no fixed income and did not possess qualifications for virtual currency trading. To defraud others, he collected screenshots of others trading coins online, forged false profit records, and impersonated a senior "coin dealer" to gain their trust. Victim Mr. Liu believed him and transferred 100,000 yuan to the account designated by Shi. After receiving the payment, Shi did not deliver the virtual currency; instead, he used part of the funds for gambling and squandered the rest, splitting and hiding the remaining funds.The investigating officers quickly identified Shi's identity and activities by accurately analyzing the flow of funds and comprehensively securing evidence related to the case. They decisively acted on the night of the report and successfully apprehended Shi. The next day, the case was officially filed for investigation. After solving the case, the police consistently adhered to the principle of "solving the case and recovering losses equally," patiently conducted legal policy education, and actively mobilized the suspect's family to cooperate in the restitution, ultimately recovering the full amount of 100,000 yuan involved in the case. On the morning of May 14, the 100,000 yuan of fraudulently obtained funds was fully returned to victim Mr. Liu. Currently, the suspect Shi has been subjected to criminal coercive measures for suspected fraud, and the case is under further investigation.

The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission issued a notice reminding the public to remain highly vigilant against scams that impersonate the Investor Compensation Fund. These scams often cause victims to suffer secondary losses. Scammers contact individuals who have previously suffered investment losses and falsely claim that the victims are eligible to recover losses from the compensation fund, demanding that they only need to pay an additional "deposit" or "fee" to arrange for the compensation fund to provide "compensation," resulting in many victims being defrauded a second time.The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission reminds the public that the Commission will not contact investors through social media or instant messaging platforms to request payments related to compensation claims.

The U.S. Department of Justice stated that Olena Oblamska, a Ukrainian national accused of operating the cryptocurrency investment platform Forsage, was extradited from Thailand to the United States last week and appeared in federal court in Oregon, pleading not guilty to the charge of "conspiracy to commit wire fraud."Prosecutors claim that Forsage operated under the guise of an investment project based on Ethereum blockchain "smart contracts," but in reality constituted a Ponzi and pyramid investment scheme, involving approximately $340 million. Currently, Olena Oblamska is being held in custody awaiting trial, with jury proceedings expected to begin on July 14, 2026; if convicted, she could face up to 20 years in federal prison.

According to the Ministry of Public Security of China, recently, the police from China, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates conducted international law enforcement cooperation for the first time, jointly combating telecom network fraud crimes in the Dubai area. They successfully dismantled 9 fraud dens and arrested 276 criminal suspects.Investigations revealed that the related fraud gangs established "romantic" relationships with victims through social platforms, deceiving them into trusting them emotionally, and then inducing victims to invest in so-called high-return cryptocurrency projects, resulting in their fraud. A relevant official from the Ministry of Public Security of China stated that this joint crackdown is an important achievement of international law enforcement cooperation by the Chinese police. The Chinese police will deepen practical cooperation with more countries, carry out joint crackdown actions, resolutely eliminate fraud dens, and make every effort to capture suspects involved in telecom fraud, effectively safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of people in all countries.

According to Hongxing News, the police in Linyi, Shandong recently dismantled a telecom fraud gang targeting minors, seizing about 140,000 yuan in illegal gains and 20,000 in virtual currency on site. Preliminary investigations have confirmed that the gang has carried out over 200 fraud cases nationwide, involving a huge amount of money.The police disclosed that the criminal gang used "free game skins and equipment" as bait to lure minors into using their parents' phones and remotely controlling the victims' devices through screen sharing to carry out transfer fraud. The stolen money was then laundered in batches through methods such as mobile phone top-ups, electricity bills, and property fee payments. The upstream fraud platform settled funds through virtual currency, and the suspects took about 20% of the fraud amount as their share. It is reported that the gang leader had previously traveled to Myanmar to engage in fraudulent activities and has strong counter-investigation experience. The case is still under further investigation.

THORChain officials stated that a large number of fake accounts and false information have appeared in the market, involving activities such as "refunds," "airdrops," and "compensations"; preliminary investigations show that user funds were not harmed in the previous security incidents, and no refund, airdrop, or compensation plans are currently underway. Any accounts claiming otherwise are impersonating or spreading false information. Progress on the investigation and more information will be announced later.

The Criminal Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security published an article titled "Beware of Online Fraud Targeting Minors," which reveals a new type of online fraud chain characterized by "game diversion + impersonating public security and judicial authorities + virtual currency money laundering." Criminals post advertisements through games and social platforms to guide minors to add friends, and use intimidation and other means to extract funds from parents' accounts. The stolen money is split and withdrawn through black and gray industry platforms to purchase virtual currencies, which are not restricted by geography and can silently flow back to overseas fraud dens, completing the "physical isolation" of cross-border funds. The Criminal Investigation Bureau reminds that public security and judicial authorities will never handle cases online, will never intimidate for deductions, and will never ask for passwords or verification codes.

According to The Block, the Myanmar military government has released a draft of the "Anti-Online Fraud Act," which proposes the death penalty for those who force others to engage in online fraud and life imprisonment for those who operate fraud centers or commit cryptocurrency fraud.The draft also proposes the establishment of a special committee responsible for international cooperation to combat fraud activities. The Myanmar parliament is expected to review the bill in early June.Previously, the U.S. Department of the Treasury had imposed sanctions on multiple entities suspected of cryptocurrency investment fraud in Myanmar and Cambodia in September 2025. FBI data shows that losses related to cryptocurrency fraud reached as high as $11.4 billion in 2025, accounting for more than half of all internet crime losses.

According to Reuters, the Polish parliament has passed a cryptocurrency regulation bill to implement the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), with Poland required to complete the implementation of related rules by July. The legislative backdrop is the alleged large-scale fraud involving the Polish cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto. Polish prosecutors have launched a multi-million dollar fraud investigation, with expected user losses exceeding 350 million zlotys (approximately 95.93 million USD), and thousands of users are currently unable to withdraw their funds.Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk previously stated that "Russian funds" and foreign political influence issues may be involved behind Zondacrypto. The exchange's founder Sylwester Suszek went missing in 2022, and the current head Przemyslaw Kral reportedly has gone to Israel. Polish President Karol Nawrocki had previously vetoed the related MiCA implementation bill twice, believing that the regulatory requirements were too burdensome and could lead to the loss of cryptocurrency businesses.