- This is the largest bitcoin fraud case ever cracked by the CFTC.
- The case involved the CEO of Mirror Trading International Proprietary Limited (MTI).
- Half of the $3.4 billion will be used to compensate victims of MTI’s fraudulent conduct.
a Texas court ordered Johannes Steinberg, CEO of Miller Trading International Proprietary Limited (MTI), will pay a $3.4 billion fine in connection with a large-scale fraud involving Bitcoin.
The CFTC alleges that Steynberg was involved in an international illicit multi-level marketing scheme (MLM) soliciting bitcoin from the public for unregistered commodity pools run by South Africa-based firm MTI. .
Steynberg and his company, which controlled MTI, allegedly traded off-exchange retail foreign exchange between May 2018 and around March 2021 via a proprietary “bot” or software program. I insisted.
The final judgment reads as follows:
“Directly or indirectly, Defendant misappropriated all bitcoins received from pool participants.”
As a principal and agent of MTI, it accepted at least 29,421 bitcoins, valued at over $1.7 billion at the time, according to CFTC Steinberg. Bitcoin was obtained from at least 23,000 individuals in the United States and other countries around the world. MTI was not registered as a Commodity Pool Operator (CPO) as required by law, but individuals were tricked into joining the Commodity Pool.
Steinberg’s arrest
Steinberg was arrested in December 2021 and has since been detained in Brazil on an Interpol arrest warrant.
In addition to the recent indictments against him by the CFTC, Steynberg is also permanently barred from registering with the CFTC or trading on any CFTC-regulated market.
Restore MTI Victims
Half of the $3.4 billion fine will be used to compensate victims of MTI’s misconduct. The other half are civil penalties, which are the highest civil penalties ordered in his CFTC case.
However, the CFTC said, “An order requiring payment of funds to a victim may not be able to recover lost money because the wrongdoer may not have sufficient funds or assets. I admit there is.
