{"id":5364,"date":"2022-07-02T05:18:17","date_gmt":"2022-07-02T05:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/?p=5364"},"modified":"2022-07-02T05:18:18","modified_gmt":"2022-07-02T05:18:18","slug":"us-regulator-charges-south-african-mti-and-its-operator-with-1-7-billion-fraud-involving-bitcoin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/?p=5364","title":{"rendered":"US Regulator Charges South African MTI and Its Operator With $1.7 Billion Fraud Involving Bitcoin"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\namzn_assoc_placement = \"adunit0\";\r\namzn_assoc_tracking_id = \"totafreearti-20\";\r\namzn_assoc_ad_mode = \"search\";\r\namzn_assoc_ad_type = \"smart\";\r\namzn_assoc_marketplace = \"amazon\";\r\namzn_assoc_region = \"US\";\r\namzn_assoc_default_search_phrase = \"crypto\";\r\namzn_assoc_default_category = \"All\";\r\namzn_assoc_search_bar = \"false\";\r\namzn_assoc_title = \"\";\r\namzn_assoc_rows =\"1\";\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"\/\/z-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/onejs?MarketPlace=US\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has charged Mirror Trading International (MTI) and its operator with a $1.7 billion fraud involving bitcoin. This action is the regulator\u2019s largest fraud scheme case involving the cryptocurrency.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>CFTC Takes Action Against MTI<\/h2>\n<p>The CFTC announced Thursday that it has charged a \u201cSouth African pool operator and CEO with $1.7 billion fraud involving bitcoin.\u201d The regulator added:<\/p>\n<p>This action is CFTC\u2019s largest fraud scheme case involving bitcoin.<\/p>\n<p>The derivatives watchdog has filed a civil enforcement action, charging Cornelius Johannes Steynberg and Mirror Trading International Proprietary Ltd. (MTI) with \u201cfraud and registration violations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>From approximately May 18, 2018, through March 20 last year, \u201cSteynberg, individually and as the controlling person of MTI, engaged in an international fraudulent multilevel marketing scheme \u2026 to solicit bitcoin from members of the public for participation in a commodity pool operated by MTI,\u201d the CFTC detailed, elaborating:<\/p>\n<p>During this period, Steynberg \u2026 accepted at least 29,421 bitcoin \u2014 with a value of over $1,733,838,372 at the end of the period.<\/p>\n<p>The announcement adds that the CFTC \u201cseeks full restitution to defrauded investors, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, civil monetary penalties, permanent registration and trading bans, and a permanent injunction against future violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC Regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The derivatives watchdog described:<\/p>\n<p>The defendants misappropriated, either directly or indirectly, all of the bitcoin they accepted from the pool participants.<\/p>\n<p>The CFTC concluded: \u201cSternberg is a fugitive from South African law enforcement, but was recently detained in the Federative Republic of Brazil on an Interpol arrest warrant.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>What do you think about the CFTC\u2019s action against MTI and its operator? Let us know in the comments section below.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Kevin Helms <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body__author__info__about\">\nA student of Austrian Economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open-source systems, network effects and the intersection between economics and cryptography.<\/p>\n<p><i class=\"td-icon-font td-icon-mail-1\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"images_credits\"><em>Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Disclaimer<\/strong>: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.<\/p>\n<p>More Popular NewsIn Case You Missed It<\/p>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\namzn_assoc_placement = \"adunit0\";\r\namzn_assoc_tracking_id = \"totafreearti-20\";\r\namzn_assoc_ad_mode = \"search\";\r\namzn_assoc_ad_type = \"smart\";\r\namzn_assoc_marketplace = \"amazon\";\r\namzn_assoc_region = \"US\";\r\namzn_assoc_default_search_phrase = \"bitcoin\";\r\namzn_assoc_default_category = \"All\";\r\namzn_assoc_search_bar = \"false\";\r\namzn_assoc_title = \"\";\r\namzn_assoc_rows =\"1\";\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"\/\/z-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/onejs?MarketPlace=US\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/us-regulator-charges-south-african-mti-and-its-operator-with-1-7-billion-fraud-involving-bitcoin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has charged Mirror Trading International (MTI) and its operator with a $1.7 billion fraud involving bitcoin. This action is the regulator\u2019s largest fraud scheme case involving the cryptocurrency. CFTC Takes Action Against MTI The CFTC announced Thursday that it has charged a \u201cSouth African pool operator and CEO [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5365,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crypto-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5364"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5366,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5364\/revisions\/5366"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}