An Atlanta, Georgia, film producer has pleaded guilty for $2.5 million in cryptocurrency-based investment scams.
Ryan Felton, 48, pleaded guilty on the fourth day of a jury trial to 12 “counts of wire fraud, ten counts of money laundering, and two counts of securities fraud,” in relation to “his fraudulent promotion of two cryptocurrency investment schemes that cost investors millions in losses,” a July 21 Department of Justice news release said.
Felton will be sentenced “at a later date before U.S. District Court Judge J.P. Boulee.”
“The defendant used 21st century technology to perpetrate an age-old fraud: lying to investors to steal their money and fund his own lavish lifestyle,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan said in the release. “Felton’s conviction should serve as a warning to anyone who seeks to capitalize on emerging technology to victimize others.”
The two cryptocurrency investment schemes Felton marketed involved a new entertainment streaming platform called “FLiK,” that he said, “would surpass Netflix,” and CoinSpark, a cryptocurrency trading exchange, the release said. Felton promoted an initial coin offering (fundraising event) in 2017 for FLiK, making false representations to investors.
“Instead of using investor funds to develop the platform, Felton diverted approximately $2.4 million in investor proceeds from the ICO and trading markets to his personal account,” the release said.
Felton promoted an initial coin offering in 2018 for CoinSpark, making false promises, posing as a potential investor and using fake names, among other schemes. He diverted initial coin offering proceeds from CoinSpark to his personal bank account.
“The technology has advanced, but the crime remains the same, and those who invest in cryptocurrency must be wary of opportunities that appear too good to be true,” Keri Farley, special agent in charge of FBI Atlanta, said in the release. “The FBI is committed to protecting investors from sophisticated cryptocurrency scammers that seek to capitalize on the novelty of digital currency.”
