Forsage’s website has enabled millions of retail investors to transact via smart contracts
Forsage’s website has enabled millions of retail investors to transact via smart contracts
The Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday it has indicted 11 people for their role in creating and promoting a fraudulent site. cryptocurrency pyramid and Ponzi scheme that has raised over $300 million from retail investors worldwide, including the United States.
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Among the defendants were the four founders of the regime named Forsage. They were last known to live in Russia, the Republic of Georgia and Indonesia, the SEC said in a statement.
Those charged could not immediately be reached for comment.
According to the SEC’s complaint, the program’s website was launched in January 2020 and has enabled millions of retail investors to complete transactions through smart contracts. It allegedly operated as a pyramid scheme for more than two years, in which investors made profits by recruiting others into the scheme, the SEC said.
Forsage also allegedly used assets from new investors to pay past investors in a typical Ponzi scheme, the SEC complaint added.
“Forsage is a fraudulent pyramid scheme launched at scale and aggressively marketed to investors,” said Carolyn Welshhans, acting head of the SEC’s Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit. “Fraudsters cannot circumvent federal securities laws by focusing their schemes on smart contracts and blockchains.”
Without admitting or denying the allegations, two of the defendants agreed to settle the charges and one agreed to pay penalties, the SEC said.