Australian
David Gilbert Saffron and Californian Vincent Anthony Mazzotta Jr. face serious
charges for allegedly masterminding a $25 million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme.
The indictment, unsealed by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) this week,
reveals a complex web of deceit involving promises of high-yield returns
through artificial intelligence-driven (AI) trading bots.
Saffron and
Mazzotta are accused of luring investors into various trading programs with
names like Circle Society and Bitcoin Wealth Management. They claimed these
programs would leverage AI for trading in cryptocurrency markets. However, the
funds were not invested as promised. Instead, they were allegedly used for
extravagant personal expenses, including private jets, luxury hotels, and
private security.
The duo’s
deceit didn’t stop at false promises of AI trading. They created a fictitious
entity, the Federal Crypto Reserve, to exploit their victims further. Under
various aliases and online personas, Saffron solicited additional payments from
victims, purportedly to recover their losses.
“To
conceal his identity, Saffron often allegedly solicited victims under various
aliases, including David Gilbert and Dave Gabe, and under various online
personas, including the Blue Wizard and Bitcoin Yoda,” the DoJ stated in
the official press release.
Two Men Charged for Operating $25M Cryptocurrency Ponzi Scheme