三人被控利用数字加密货币诈骗，涉案金额达7.22亿美元

美国新泽西州的律师克雷格·卡佩尼托在一份声明中称：三名男子被控涉及金额达7.22亿美元的数字加密货币欺诈，堪称“高科技庞氏骗局”。

检察官说，三名被告自2014年起经营BitClub Network至本月，主要业务是向投资者筹集资金购买所谓的数字加密货币采矿池份额，如果能够拉到新投资者加入还可以获得奖励。

卡佩尼托的声明称，37岁的马修·布伦特·格茨切、38岁的乔巴迪亚·辛克莱·韦克斯和49岁的约瑟夫·弗兰克·阿贝尔于12月10日被捕，被控串谋罪。另有两名被告仍然在逃，其姓名尚未披露。

根据声明，格茨切将潜在的BitClub Network投资者称为“笨蛋”和“羊”，称“整个模式的基础就是傻子多。”检察官称，2017年9月，格茨切向同谋发了一封电子邮件，称BitClub Network能够让他“暴富退休！！！”。

格茨切和韦克斯被控串谋诈骗电汇，而三名男子均被控串谋出售未经注册的证券。

目前记者尚未联系上三名被告的代理律师。卡佩尼托在声明中说，律师于12月10日出庭。

本案名为格茨切公诉案件，编号19-cr-00877，新泽西州（纽瓦克市）美国地方法院。（财富中文网）

译者：Charlie

审校：夏林

Three men were charged with helping run a $722 million cryptocurrency fraud that amounted to a “high-tech Ponzi scheme,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito in New Jersey said in a statement.

Prosecutors said that, from 2014 until this month, the defendants operated BitClub Network, which solicited money from investors in exchange for shares in purported cryptocurrency mining pools and rewarded them for recruiting new investors.

Matthew Brent Goettsche, 37, Jobadiah Sinclair Weeks, 38, and Joseph Frank Abel, 49, were arrested on December 10 and charged with conspiracy, according to Carpenito’s statement. Two more defendants, whose names weren’t disclosed, remain at large.

According to the statement, Goettsche referred to potential BitClub Network investors as “dumb” and “sheep,” saying he was “building this whole model on the backs of idiots.” In September 2017, Goettsche sent an email to a co-conspirator in which he suggested BitClub Network would allow him to “retire RAF!!! (rich as f*ck),” prosecutors said.

Goettsche and Weeks are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, while all three men are facing charges of conspiracy to sell unregistered securities.

Lawyers representing the three named defendants couldn’t immediately be located. They’re expected to appear in court on December 10, Carpenito said in the statement.

The case is U.S. v. Goettsche, 19-cr-00877, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey (Newark).