The leader of a fraudulent cryptocurrency and binary options scheme worth $70 million has been extradited to the US, where the Serbian national is facing charges from two federal indictments, in the Northern District of Texas and the Eastern District of New York. "Serbian man charged with cryptocurrency fraud has been arrested," reports say.
A statement on the Department of Justice (DoJ) website reveals that in Mar. 2020, a federal grand jury in Texas indicted Kristijan Krstic for allegedly defrauding investors of over $70 million through counterfeit cryptocurrency and binary options investment platforms. Krstic and more than a dozen other individuals were also indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. They are accused of creating and marketing over 20 fraudulent platforms related to cryptocurrency and binary options investment platforms. Each count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment. "The work on this case exemplifies the whole of the Justice Department's effort to bring cyber-criminals - including those who use cryptocurrency and other purported cyber investment platforms to victimize the citizens of the United States - to justice," said U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton for the Northern District of Texas.
In addition, Krstic was indicted by another federal grand jury in Feb. 2021 in the Eastern District of New York. According to DoJ press release, he had created two digital-asset investment platforms known as Start Options and B2G, serving as CFO for Start Options. From 2017 through 2018, Krstic reportedly duped US investors into buying bogus securities via contracts in both firms. The indictment accuses Start Options provided services like cryptocurrency mining, digital asset trading such as cryptocurrencies commodities stocks indices while claiming its status as largest Bitcoin exchange by Euro volume liquidity alongside an ecosystem for trading B2G tokens/digital currencies via B2G platform. However, all investments ended up being laundered internationally to a Philippines-based account and digital-currency wallet. After transferring $7 million back, Krstic allegedly ceased all communication with investors and sold his company to Russian venture capitalists. His charges in New York include one count each of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division expressed her commitment towards battling transnational organized crime through such extradition actions, emphasizing the department's dedication towards safeguarding the public from cryptocurrency fraud.
