Patrick McDonnell has been indicted by a U.S court for posing as an experienced crypto trader with the aim of stealing from investors. He was purporting to offer investment advice.

Richard P. Donoghue, a U.S Attorney in the Eastern District of New York, together with Philip R. Bartlett, Inspector-in-Charge, USPIS, unsealed a nine-count indictment against McDonnell who also used the name “Jason Flack.” The trader is said to also be the founder of CabbageTech, an investment firm.

According to Donoghue:

As alleged, the defendant defrauded investors by making false promises and sending them fraudulent balance statements, hiding the fact that he was stealing their money for his personal use. The defendant’s fraud ends now; he will be held responsible for his criminal conduct.

In a press statement that was released by the United States Department of Justice, the court will be looking into McDonnell’s criminal activities from late 2014 to present. During this time, the ‘experienced crypto trader’ promised to offer investors trading advice and offered to help them make profits off their virtual currencies by helping them trade their digital wealth.

However, when investors sought to withdraw their funds, they were met with all kinds of excuses why they needed to wait a little while longer.

The press release noted:

When investors requested refunds, McDonnell initially offered excuses for delays in repayment, and eventually stopped responding at all. In total, McDonnel defrauded at least 10 victims of at least $194,000 in U.S currency, 4.41 Bitcoin (BTC), 206 Litecoin (LTC), 620 Ethereum Classic (ETC), and 1,342,634 Verge currency.

As is the rule, the ‘experienced crypto trader’ is still innocent until proven guilty. If found guilty, McDonnell is facing a maximum of 20 years in prison.

Since McDonnell has already been arrested, do you think the court has enough evidence to send him to prison?

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