Fraud

British Virgin Islands-domiciled crypto "stablecoin" group Tether has been fined $41 million for fraud by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which also fined BVI crypto exchange Bitfinex $1.5 million for unlicensed activity and other offenses.

Administrative Order by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission imposing a fine of $41 million on Tether Holdings Limited, Tether Operations Limited, and Tether International Limited, all of the British Virgin Islands, and Tether Limited, of Hong Kong, for alleged fraud with its "virtual currency stablecoin".

Five months after one of its clients, Canadian Andrew McAlpine, pleaded guilty to securities fraud in the United States, securities broker Seven Mile Securities has been fined CI$250,000 by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority. It is not publicly-known whether the two events are connected.

A bizarre and seemingly-frivolous lawsuit alleging a $450 million fraud by a Bahamas investment group and related individuals has been filed in New York by four Ukraine citizens and 35 suspiciously-named firms that purport to be domiciled in some of the seediest offshore jurisdictions, including one called "Bear Stearns", which claims to be registered in the Seychelles. UPDATE: On October 17th, 2021 - just four days after filing the complaint, the plaintiffs filed a notice of voluntary dismissal.

Motion for Temporary Restraining Order by entities in Alaska, Anguilla, Bahamas, Belize, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Seychelles and Ukraine alleging a $450 million fraud by entities in or from the Bahamas, Canada, and Hong Kong in Oksana Hryn, Yelyzaveta Lata, a.k.a. Elizaveta Lata; Ihor Ushenko, Volodymyr Hren, Astor Asset Management Ltd., Astor Asset Management 1 Ltd., Astor Asset Management 2 Ltd., Astor Asset Management 3 Ltd., Astor Asset Management 4 Ltd., Astor Asset Management 5 Ltd., Astor Asset Management 6 Ltd., Astor Asset Management 7 Ltd., America 2030 Capital Limited, America 2030 Capital 1 Limited, America 2030 Capital 2 Limited, America 2030 Capital 3 Limited, America 2030 Capital 4 Limited, America 2030 Capital 5 Limited, Astor Capital Fund Ltd., Bentley Rothschild Capital Limited, Bentley Rothschild Capital 1 Limited, Bentley Rothschild Capital 2 Limited, Bentley Rothschild Capital 3 Limited, Bentley Rothschild Capital 4 Limited, Blackrock Capital LLC, SAL Oppenheim Ltd., Bear Stearns Companies, Bentley Bronfman Capital Ltd., Dreyfus Corporation, Lincoln Capital Ltd., Newburgh Capital Ltd., Sovereign Liquidity Fund Ltd., Sovereign Liquidity Fund 1 Ltd., Sovereign Liquidity Fund 2 Ltd., Sovereign Liquidity Fund 3 Ltd., State Street Global Advisors Ltd., Union Pacific Capital Ltd., AC Capital Limited, BSC Capital Ltd., Cornelius Vanderbilt Capital Management Ltd., and Aurelius Capital Management Ltd. v. Weiser Global Capital Markets Ltd., Christos Livadas, a.k.a. Chris Livas; Hong ‘Rainbow’ Yang, Chris Papaioannou, a.k.a. Christos Papaioannou; Courtney Filipenko, Rahul Kirpalani, Selby Brice, Jose Marmolejo, Jamaal Stubbs, Weiser Global Asset Management, and Weiser Asset Management at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Complaint by entities in Alaska, Anguilla, Bahamas, Belize, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Seychelles and Ukraine alleging a $450 million fraud by entities in or from the Bahamas, Canada, and Hong Kong in Oksana Hryn, Yelyzaveta Lata, a.k.a. Elizaveta Lata; Ihor Ushenko, Volodymyr Hren, Astor Asset Management Ltd., Astor Asset Management 1 Ltd., Astor Asset Management 2 Ltd., Astor Asset Management 3 Ltd., Astor Asset Management 4 Ltd., Astor Asset Management 5 Ltd., Astor Asset Management 6 Ltd., Astor Asset Management 7 Ltd., America 2030 Capital Limited, America 2030 Capital 1 Limited, America 2030 Capital 2 Limited, America 2030 Capital 3 Limited, America 2030 Capital 4 Limited, America 2030 Capital 5 Limited, Astor Capital Fund Ltd., Bentley Rothschild Capital Limited, Bentley Rothschild Capital 1 Limited, Bentley Rothschild Capital 2 Limited, Bentley Rothschild Capital 3 Limited, Bentley Rothschild Capital 4 Limited, Blackrock Capital LLC, SAL Oppenheim Ltd., Bear Stearns Companies, Bentley Bronfman Capital Ltd., Dreyfus Corporation, Lincoln Capital Ltd., Newburgh Capital Ltd., Sovereign Liquidity Fund Ltd., Sovereign Liquidity Fund 1 Ltd., Sovereign Liquidity Fund 2 Ltd., Sovereign Liquidity Fund 3 Ltd., State Street Global Advisors Ltd., Union Pacific Capital Ltd., AC Capital Limited, BSC Capital Ltd., Cornelius Vanderbilt Capital Management Ltd., and Aurelius Capital Management Ltd. v. Weiser Global Capital Markets Ltd., Christos Livadas, a.k.a. Chris Livas; Hong ‘Rainbow’ Yang, Chris Papaioannou, a.k.a. Christos Papaioannou; Courtney Filipenko, Rahul Kirpalani, Selby Brice, Jose Marmolejo, Jamaal Stubbs, Weiser Global Asset Management, and Weiser Asset Management at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence from Centennial Bank - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from the United Arab Emirates - for a criminal investigation into "at least 17 known and unknown defendants" for suspected fraud and money laundering that, inter alia, allegedly involved the use of "deep voice" technology to simulate the voice of a company director.

Class Action Complaint alleging "the unlawful use of material non-public information by Defendants Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, who collectively avoided billions in losses by selling shares of Vipshop Holdings Ltd., a leading online discount retailer for brands in China, to Plaintiff and other unsuspecting and unwitting public shareholders, after confidentially learning that Archegos Capital Management, a family office with $10 billion under management, failed (or was likely to fail) to meet a margin call, requiring it to fully liquidate its position in the Company" in Chew King Tan v. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Complaint involving a Saint Vincent and the Grenadines-flagged 130-feet commercial motor yacht called Jomar in Haim Yehzkel, of Florida v. Jomar Ltd., of the Cayman Islands; World Yacht Group Inc., of California, and Big I Enterprises LLC, of Pennsylvania, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

The British Virgin Islands Government intends to add three more US citizens - Scott Weisman, Jerry Willoughby, and Bruce Bradley - as defendants to a lawsuit it filed against "now-suspended" US lawyer Lester Hyman alleging fraud and corruption involving plans to operate an air service between the BVI and Miami.

Liquidators in the Cayman Islands and United Arab Emirates who are investigating the alleged misappropriation of at least $43 million from a Cayman investment vehicle for six Kuwaiti brothers have filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy recognition in the United States.

Application by the British Virgin Islands Attorney General to take evidence from Signature Bank for use in legal proceedings in the British Virgin Islands "against Lester S. Hyman", described as "a now-suspended member of the District of Columbia and Massachusetts Bars" for "for fraud and deceit and breaches of trust and loyalty and of his contractual obligations owed to the BVIG", filed at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Complaint alleging "a fraudulent scheme that sought to, and ultimately did, steal $680,000 worth of cryptocurrency from Plaintiff" in Robert Guarini v. John Doe and Binance, which is domiciled in the Cayman Islands, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Stipulation to $300 million Settlement in a dispute involving a Cayman Islands company described as the "Facebook of China" in Heng Ren Silk Road Investments LLC, of Massachusetts; Oasis Investments II Master Fund Ltd., of the Cayman Islands, and Jodi Arama, derivatively on behalf of nominal defendant Renren Inc., of the Cayman Islands v. Joseph Chen, David K. Chao, DCM III, L.P., DCM III-A, L.P., DCM Affiliates Fund III, L.P., DCM Investment Management III, LLC, Duff & Phelps, LLC, Oak Pacific Investment, Social Finance, Inc., SoftBank Group Capital Limited, SoftBank Group Corp., SB Pan Pacific Corporation, Renren SF Holdings, Inc., and Renren Lianhe Holdings at the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York.

Complaint alleging fraud involving the purchase of a property at 837 Harbor Island, Clearwater Beach, Florida for $7 million in Limitless Ventures II LLC, of Ohio v. ICAT Services Ltd. A.T.O. The Ppal Trust Dated December 12, 2006, described as a British Virgin Islands entity whose principal was Andrew Johnson, at the Circuit Court of the Sixth Judicial Circuit, in and for Pinellas County, Florida.

Application by the Attorney General of the British Virgin Islands to take discovery from Pauline E. Jones for use in legal proceedings in the British Virgin Islands against Lester S. Hyman, described as "a now-suspended member of the District of Columbia and Massachusetts bars", for "fraud and deceit and breaches of trust and loyalty and of his contractual obligations owed to the BVIG", filed at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Complaint alleging a "fraudulent mass-mailing operation" in USA v. Robert Lhez, described as a resident of France, individually and as an officer of Arcana Center Corp. and of Partners VAD International Sàrl, d.b.a. Lynco; Mireille Dayer, a citizen of Switzerland; Julie Poulleau, a citizen of France; Arcana Center Corp., of Delaware, and Partners VAD International Sàrl, of Switzerland, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence from the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Bosnia and Herzegovina - for a criminal investigation into Denis Prcic, described as President of the American University in Bosnia and Herzegovina, "for misuse of authority and illegal collection of payment".

Application by Itaú Unibanco SA to take discovery from TOG Brazil Holdings, Inc., Ten Oaks Management, LLC, Ten Oaks Friar Common Investors, LLC, and Ten Oaks Friar Series B Investors, LLC for use in bankruptcy proceedings in Brazil involving Brazil Holdings Ltda, Rakuten Brasil Internet Service Ltda, Rakuten Brasil Financial Services Ltda, and Rakuten Brasil Logistics Ltda., filed at the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Complaint seeking damages "in excess of $300 million" against entities in Guernsey, Luxembourg, Qatar, and the USA in Catherine E. Youngman, Litigation Trustee for ASHINC Corporation et al, as successor to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of ASHINC Corporation and its Affiliated Debtors v. Yucaipa American Alliance Fund I LLC, Yucaipa American Management LLC, American Airlines Master Fixed Benefit Pension Plan Trust, American Private Equity Partners II LP, Automotive Machinists Pension Trust, Board of Fire and Police Pension Commissioners of the City of Los Angeles, California Public Employees’ Retirement System, Carpenters Pension Trust Fund for Northern California, Coller Partners 702 LP Inc., Clouse S.A., Consolidated Retirement Fund, Lam Private Equity LLC, ILGWU Death Benefit Fund 4, International SIF SICAV SA, Locals 302 & 612 of The International Union of Operating Engineers - Employers Construction Industry Retirement Trust, Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System, National Retirement Fund, New Mexico State Investment Council, New Mexico State Investment Council Land Grant Permanent Fund, New Mexico State Investment Council Severance Tax Permanent Fund, New York City Employees’ Retirement System, New York City Fire Department Pension Fund, New York City Police Pension Fund, Northeast Carpenters Pension Fund, Pacific Coast Roofers Pension Plan, Sanba II Investment Company, State Street Bank and Trust Company (as Trustee on behalf of American Airlines Master Fixed Benefit Pension Plan Trust), Steamship Trade Association of Baltimore Inc. - International Longshoremen’s Association (AFL-CIO) Pension Fund, Teachers’ Retirement System of the City of New York, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Pension Plan for Employees, and Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Trust at the U. S. District Court for the District of Delaware.

Against a backdrop of more than $3 billion of investor losses, investor litigation, and regulatory "inquiries" in the US and Bermuda, four Bermuda firms affiliated with the US-based Markel Corporation insurance group have gone into provisional liquidation as part of an attempted restructuring.

Class Action Complaint alleging fraud in Daniel P. McLaughlin v. Nano-X Imaging Ltd., of Israel; Ran Poliakine, and Tal Shank at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Complaint alleging "an investment offering fraud through which they raised millions of dollars from investors for a start-up hemp company" in U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. CanaFarma Hemp Products Corp., of Vancouver, Canada; Vitaly Fargesen, and Igor Palatnik, both described as residing in New Jersey, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Application by Invest Bank PSC, which "provides corporate retail banking services in the UAE", to take discovery from Citibank, N.A., The Bank of New York Mellon, Société Générale, New York Branch; HSBC Bank USA, N.A., BNP Paribas USA, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Barclays Bank PLC, Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas, The Bank of Nova Scotia, UBS AG, Bank of America, N.A., Standard Chartered Bank, Commerzbank AG, New York Branch; Bank of China, New York Branch; Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., and Mashreqbank PSC for use in legal proceedings in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, “against Seidco General Contracting Company LLC, Fadi Atef Ajjaoui, and Saif Ali Al Dhabea Al Darmaki" for suspected fraud and misappropriation, filed at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Alleging "a fraud has been committed", a creditor of two dissolved Cayman Islands firms that are part of British businessman Harvey Boulter's Porton Group has applied for them to be restored to the corporate register and their liquidations continued under court supervision.

Public Notice by Labuan Financial Services Authority that the Labuan branch of Cayman Islands-domiciled Premier Assurance Group SPC Ltd. has gone into official liquidation.

Administrative Order by the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission imposing a fine of $50,000 on Donna M. Silverman to settle allegations of fraud involving TCA Fund Management Group Corp., of Florida, and four TCA funds in the Cayman Islands.

Petition for Recognition of a Foreign Main Proceeding in Australia by Sheahan and Lock, as the Foreign Representatives of Gerobin Finances Pty Ltd., Erbin Finances Pty Limited, Rawbin Finances Pty Limited, Marbin Finances Pty Limited, Erma Nominees Pty Limited, and Ligon 158 Pty Limited, described as members of "a remarkably complex group of companies controlled and operated by, and used for the personal benefit of, the Binetter family, many of which companies have been the subject of a far-ranging tax investigation by the Australian Taxation Office", filed at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Administrative Order by the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission imposing a fine of $50,000 on Donna M. Silverman to settle allegations of fraud involving TCA Fund Management Group Corp., of Florida, and TCA Global Credit Fund GP Ltd., of the Cayman Islands.

Complaint alleging fraud in Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Uduakobong Udo Inyangudo, a.k.a. Alexander Uti Bassey, described as a citizen and resident of Nigeria; Vanessa Okocha, Amen Okundaye, Charles Ochi, Diego Okeh, Daniell Liggins, Victor Edeh, and Tochukwu Edeh at the U. S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

Class Action Complaint against defendants in or from the British Virgin Islands, Czech Republic, England, Hong Kong, Poland, Scotland, Thailand, Ukraine, and USA alleging "Defendants orchestrated a massive international scheme to defraud Plaintiffs and similarly situated investors by soliciting them to deposit money or cash equivalents with ROFX, a “robotically operated foreign exchange trading” platform that purportedly utilized algorithms to trade on behalf of investors" in Ryan Birmingham, Roman Leonov, Mitchell Parent, Jonathan Zarley, and Steven Hansen v. ROFX.net, described as "an unincorporated entity providing unregulated financial services through its web-based platform to investors around the world" with "registered addresses" in England, Hong Kong, and the USA; Auro Advantages LLC, Aware Choice Ltd., Boonruk Ruamkit Co. Ltd., Brass Marker s.r.o., Easy Com LC, Epayments Systems Ltd., Ester Holdings Inc., Global E-Advantages LLC, Grovee LLC, Igoria Trade S.A., IT Outsourcing Co. Ltd., Notus LLC, Shopostar LLC, VDD-Trading Ltd., Wealthy Developments LP, Andrei Fetin, Anna Shymko, Anton Bilous, Borys Konovalenko, Dmytro Fokin, Jorge Luis Castillo, Manuchar Daraselia, Mikhail Rymanov, Natalia Los, Nattpemol Krinara, PapahraTsor Nrviratporn, Peter Mogilniy, Stanislav Khomenko, and Youras Ziankovich at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

First Amended Complaint alleging a $6.7 million fraud involving “non-existent doses” of a COVID-19 vaccine “for the purpose of vaccinating nearly 300,000 citizens of the island of Barbados” in Radical Investments Ltd., described as a St. Lucia company based in Barbados v. Good Vibrations Entertainment LLC, of Florida; Alex Lee Moore, a.k.a. Flex Moore; Prestige Pegasus LLC, of Colorado; Moniladae Coley, a.k.a. Moniladai Coley; Charles Stein, a.k.a. Charlie Stein, a lawyer in California; Davidovich Stein Law Group LLC, a law firm California, and RDS Cargo Group DWC LLC, described as a Polish company based in the United Arab Emirates, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Complaint alleging the defendants "fraudulently solicited members of the public for the purported purpose of trading off-exchange, retail foreign currency on a leveraged or margined basis in accounts to be managed by Tradewale, and misappropriated customers' funds" in Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Tradewale LLC, of Illinois; Tradewale Managed Fund, described as "an entity purportedly located in London, United Kingdom offering forex investments to the public", and Valdas Dapkus at the U. S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Complaint alleging "repeated acts of insider trading by Defendant Sanchez, who abused his position of trust as a Senior Analyst in the Compliance Division of a prominent United States-based investment bank to reap hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal trading profits" in U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jose Luis Casero Sanchez, described as citizen of Spain who worked in Poland while the alleged offenses were allegedly committed, as Defendant, and Jose Luis Casero Abellan and Maria Isabel Sanchez Gonzalez, both citizens of Spain, as Relief Defendants, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

SEC's Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order in U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jose Luis Casero Sanchez, described as citizen of Spain who worked in Poland, as Defendant, and Jose Luis Casero Abellan and Maria Isabel Sanchez Gonzalez, both citizens of Spain, as Relief Defendants, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Opinion and Order Granting in Part and Denying in Part Defendants' motions to dismiss a class action complaint known as "Tether and Bitfinex Crypto Asset Litigation" in which "a group of individual investors who purchased cryptocommodities - a class of crypto-assets that includes bitcoin - detailed a wide-ranging conspiracy to artificially inflate the price of those cryptocommodities" by entities in or from the British Virgin Islands, Hong Kong, Italy, Netherlands, Panama, and USA in Pinchas Goldshtein et al v. iFinex Inc., BFXNA Inc., BFXWW Inc., Tether Holdings Limited, Tether Operations Limited, Tether Limited, Tether International Limited, DigFinex Inc., Giancarlo Devasini, Ludovicus Jan van der Velde, Philip Potter, Reginald Fowler, Crypto Capital Corp., Bittrex, Inc., and Poloniex, LLC at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Complaint alleging fraud involving an "illegal" $200 million loan in Roger W. Kirby, individually and as sole Trustee of The Augustus R. A. Kirby 2020 Revocable Trust and The Jane A. Kirby 2020 Revocable Trust v. David W. Zalaznick, described as a resident of Florida; John W. Jordan II, of Illinois; JZ Capital Partners Ltd., of Guernsey, in the Channel Islands; JZCP Realty Fund Ltd., of the Cayman Islands; Jordan/Zalaznick Advisors Inc., JZ 184-204 Bedford LLC, Red Zky JZ Fulton Holdings LLC, RS JZ Greenpoint LLC, and RS JZ Wynwood Holdings LLC at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Criminal actions against six foreign nationals, a Swiss financial services firm, and a client regarding an alleged offshore tax evasion scheme known as the "Singapore Solution" involving entities in the British Virgin Islands, Hong Kong, Liechtenstein, Panama, Singapore, and Switzerland have been unsealed at federal court in New York.

Complaint "to recover civil monetary penalties from defendant Wells Fargo Bank N.A. for fraudulently overcharging hundreds of its commercial customers who used the Bank's foreign exchange services" and $35 million settlement agreement in USA v. Wells Fargo Bank at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Order of Release on $80 million bond and other conditions in USA. Mark Gyetvay, the Chief Financial Officer of Russian gas producer Novatek who is apparently a citizen of Italy, Russia, and the United States, at the U. S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

An unidentified Swiss "wealth advisory firm" in Zurich helped Mark Gyetvay - the criminally indicted CFO of one of Russia's biggest gas producers, LSE-listed Novatek - evade taxes on over $40 million of income in a scheme also involving firms in Belize, British Virgin Islands, and Cayman Islands, it has been alleged.

Complaint alleging securities fraud "that targeted Turkish immigrants" in U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Star Chain Inc. and Timur Efe, a.k.a. Omer Casurluk, described as a dual citizen of Turkey and the United States, at the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

Deferred Prosecution Agreement in USA v. Wanzhou Meng, a citizen of China who is the Chief Financial Officer of Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Motion for Preliminary Injunction regarding an alleged securities fraud in U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Timothy Page, described as a citizen of the United Kingdom; Trevor Page, described as a resident of the United Kingdom residing in the U.K., Switzerland, and Fiji; Ticino Capital Limited, described as a Maltese company "owned on paper by a Swiss attorney"; Wellesley Holdings Limited, of Hungary; Porrima Limited, of Hungary; Emergent Investment Company, of Hungary, and FJ Investments International Inc., of Utah, as Defendants, and Janan Page, described as a resident of the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Fiji, as Relief Defendant, at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Complaint alleging securities fraud in U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Daniel Cattlin, described as a citizen and resident of the United Kingdom, and William Shupe, described as a "disbarred lawyer" residing in Utah, at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Complaint alleging securities fraud in U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Timothy Page, described as a citizen of the United Kingdom; Trevor Page, described as a resident of the United Kingdom residing in the U.K., Switzerland, and Fiji; Ticino Capital Limited, described as a Maltese company "owned on paper by a Swiss attorney"; Wellesley Holdings Limited, of Hungary; Porrima Limited, of Hungary; Emergent Investment Company, of Hungary, and FJ Investments International Inc., of Utah, as Defendants, and Janan Page, described as a resident of the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Fiji, as Relief Defendant, at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence from Lightspeed Financial Services Group LLC - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Israel - for use in a criminal investigation into Dror Dahan and Hadar Dahan for suspected fraud and money laundering.

Motion to Set Conditions of Release in USA v. Mark Gyetvay, a citizen of Italy, Russia, and the United States charged with "a decade-long tax evasion scheme that involved his failure to report over $40 million of income to the IRS", at the U. S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence from cryptocurrency trading platform Paxful.com - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Austria - for a criminal investigation into "unknown subjects for fraud" involving "an investment opportunity in Bitcoin via Forex and binary options on an online platform".

Criminal Indictment alleging tax evasion involving companies or accounts in Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Russia, and Switzerland in USA v. Mark Gyetvay, the Chief Financial Officer of Russian gas producer Novatek who is apparently a citizen of Italy, Russia, and the United States, at the U. S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.