The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a civil enforcement action against Or Patreanu of Israel, Snir Hananya of Italy, Elijah Samson of Germany, Artem Prokopenko of Ukraine, and Expected Value Plus Ltd., a Seychelles company, operating under the collective name Cryptobravos. The case, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, alleges a fraudulent scheme that misappropriated tens of millions of dollars from hundreds of individuals in the United States and internationally.
According to the CFTC complaint, from approximately January 2017 through October 2021, the defendants operated a global fraud based out of Israel, Ukraine, Albania, and South Africa, among other locations. Cryptobravos, using aliases such as Trade2Get, Coinbull, Cryptonxt, Tradenix, Cryptobravos, Nittrex, Pinance, and Wobit, solicited funds – primarily in bitcoin and other digital assets – from customers, promising managed accounts for trading digital commodities.
The CFTC alleges that agents of Cryptobravos falsely claimed they would trade customer funds, generate risk-free returns, and allow for unrestricted withdrawals. However, the complaint states the defendants did not engage in actual trading and failed to earn returns for customers. Instead, they allegedly accepted funds and refused to return them, often pressuring customers to liquidate retirement accounts or take out loans to increase deposits or pay fabricated taxes and commissions.
The vast majority of customers who invested with Cryptobravos reportedly did not recover their funds. The CFTC is seeking restitution, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, civil monetary penalties, permanent trading and registration bans, and a permanent injunction against further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations.
“This case is a triumph of international cooperation,” stated Ian McGinley, Director of Enforcement at the CFTC. “The roster of agencies who assisted the Division of Enforcement’s investigation makes it clear to fraudsters in our markets that we will pursue them wherever they are located.”
The CFTC acknowledged assistance from numerous international regulatory bodies, including the Alabama Securities Commission, Albanian Financial Supervisory Authority, Belize Financial Services Commission, British Columbia Securities Commission, and several others. The case is being pursued by Michael Cazakoff, Jack Murphy, K. Brent Tomer, Lenel Hickson Jr., and Manal M. Sultan of the CFTC’s Division of Enforcement.
Source: CFTC.gov
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