Swedish Man Pleads Guilty to $16 Million Crypto Fraud
A Swedish national charged with running an international fraud that raked in more than $16 million in cryptocurrency pled guilty in a US federal court on Thursday.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Roger
Nils-Jonas Karlsson and his company, Eastern Metal Securities (EMS), of
engaging in a scheme that defrauded more than 3,500 victims in 46 countries.
Karlsson allegedly used two websites, www.hci25.com and
www.easternmetalsecurities.com, to encourage victims to invest using cryptocurrencies
in a ‘Pre Funded Reversed Pension Plan’.
The documents submitted to the court paint a fairly concise
picture of his fraudulent scheme, outlining his interaction and contact with
less experienced victims. They were solicited to buy phony investment plans for
less than $100, promising a 450-fold return through an eventual payout of 1.15
kilograms of gold per share.
Roger, who was extradited to the United States from Thailand
in 2019, offered his victims risk-free investments through guaranteed and backed
up plans that at least double their invested capital.
In particular, the documents cite emails to victims where he
guaranteed returns of around 97%, in the event that the gold payout did not
happen. In fact, no such plan existed, and no payouts occurred as returns on
any real investments are nowhere near these rates.
Created in late 2012 and dissolved after 7 years, Karlsson’s
scheme defrauded hundreds of deaf and hard-of-hearing people who invested their
retirement funds in his million-dollar crypto scam. To mask his fraud, he used
several aliases to operate his base from in Thailand, including Steve Heyden,
Euclid Deodoris, Joshua Millard, Lars Georgsson, Paramon Larasoft and Kenth
Westerberg.
Karlsson spent most of his victims’ monies to pay for his
personal expenses, including expensive homes and a resort in Thailand, his
country of residence, before being extradited to the US.
He pleaded guilty to securities fraud, wire fraud and money
laundering charges. If convicted on all counts, he could face up to 40 years in
prison and a fine of $750,000.
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