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A cryptocurrency fund manager has been charged in a U.S. federal court. He allegedly took over $5 million from investors interested in investing in his crypto funds, promising them high returns. In reality, he was running a Ponzi scheme and is now facing up to 30 years in prison.<\/strong><\/p>\n The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Tuesday that Jeremy Spence has been arrested and charged in Manhattan federal court in a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme. The 24-year-old from Bristol, Rhode Island, is also known as \u201cCoin Signals.\u201d<\/p>\n Spence is \u201ca cryptocurrency trader who solicited funds for various cryptocurrency funds that he operated, with commodities fraud and wire fraud offenses,\u201d the DOJ described, adding:<\/p>\n Spence took cryptocurrency worth over $5 million from more than 170 individual investors after making false representations in connection with these cryptocurrency funds.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss explained that the defendant \u201callegedly lured investors to his cryptocurrency investment scam by touting returns of up to 148%.\u201d However, his investment pools consistently lost money.<\/p>\n FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney further detailed that Spence allegedly \u201cused money from new investors to pay off others in order to keep his plan moving \u2014 a typical marker of a Ponzi scheme.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the Justice Department, from November 2017 through April 2019, Spence solicited investors for several cryptocurrency investment funds that he had created and managed. Investors \u201cwould transfer cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin and ethereum,\u201d to him to invest in the funds for them. The DOJ elaborated:<\/p>\n The largest and most active of which were the Coin Signals Bitmex Fund, a\/k\/a the \u2018CS Mex Fund,\u2019 the Coin Signals Alternative Fund, a\/k\/a the \u2018CS Alt Fund,\u2019 and the Coin Signals Long Term Fund.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n <\/ins> <\/ins> <\/p>\n Spence is charged with one count of commodities fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, and one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.<\/p>\n The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has also filed a federal civil enforcement action against Spence, charging him with fraud for operating the Ponzi scheme.<\/p>\nCrypto Fund Manager Arrested for Running a Ponzi Scheme<\/h2>\n
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