Bitcoin scam: Cryptocurrency Fraudster Arrested in Thailand, Charged in Multi-Million Dollar Investment Scheme

[link to www.justice.gov (secure)]

In a complaint filed March 4, 2019, and unsealed today, Roger Nils-Jonas Karlsson and his company, Eastern Metal Securities (EMS), were charged with engaging in a scheme to defraud victims of more than $11 million.

According to the complaint, since September 2006, Karlsson allegedly used websites to communicate false representations to victims in a scheme to defraud potential investors. For example, one website, www.easternmetalsecurities.com, allegedly was registered to a fictitious person and advertised shares in a product called a “Pre Funded Reversed Pension Plan” (PFRPP). The complaint alleges Karlsson used the website to invite potential investors to purchase shares of the plan for $98 per share in exchange for an eventual payout of 1.15 kilograms of gold per share, even though as of Jan. 2, 2019, 1.15 kilograms of gold was worth more than $45,000. Karlsson also allegedly advised investors that, in the unlikely event that the gold payout did not happen, he guaranteed to return to them 97 percent of the amount they invested. According to the complaint, the government found no evidence of any accounts held by Karlsson that would allow him to pay off the investors. Instead, the complaint alleges, the funds provided by victims were transferred to Karlsson’s personal bank accounts and now appear to be tied up in real estate in Thailand.

The complaint further describes how Karlsson allegedly used a second website, www.hci25.com, to make multiple false communications to potential investors. Karlsson allegedly brought the investors in HCI25 together with the investors in the PFRPP and posted multiple communications to delay the moment investors would realize there would be no payout. For example, on one occasion, Karlsson allegedly explained that a payout had not occurred because releasing so much money all at once could cause a negative effect on financial systems throughout the world. Karlsson also allegedly falsely represented that EMS was working with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to prepare the way for a payout.

The complaint alleges Karlsson directed his victims to make investments using virtual currencies, such as Bitcoin. Karlsson allegedly defrauded no less than 3,575 victims of more than $11 million.
[link to www.justice.gov (secure)]