American got 4 years in prison for $21 million ICO fraudA court sentenced the CEO of Titanium Blockchain Infrastructure Services (TBIS), Michael Alan Stollery, to four years and three months in prison. This was reported by the U.S. Department of Justice.
In July 2022, the California resident pleaded guilty to participating in a fraudulent ICO scheme that raised $21 million.
Between 2017 and 2018, the founder of TBIS promoted the platform as a "cryptocurrency investment opportunity."
According to the DOJ, Stollery was a "key figure" in the conspiracy. He lured investors to buy the BAR token through "a series of false and misleading statements."
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) took TBIS to court in May 2018. The regulator charged Stollery and his company with violating anti-fraud regulations and federal securities laws.
American also failed to register a coin offering as required by the SEC. In addition, he posted fake customer reviews on the site and assured a business relationship with the Federal Reserve.
During the hearing, Stollery admitted to falsifying aspects of the white paper, including the purpose and technology of the coins, the differences from other tokens, and the profitability prospects.
The TIBS founder faced up to 20 years in prison in the case.
As a reminder, in July 2021, the founders of the cryptocurrency project Dropil pleaded guilty to nearly $1.9 million in ICO fraud.
In December 2022, the SEC charged the Thor Technologies project and its principals with an unregistered $2.6 million securities offering.
