Category: Publications

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Article: Software Pioneer John McAfee Indicted In Crypto Case

Article - Media, Publications

Software Pioneer John McAfee Indicted In Crypto Case

Reenat Sinay, 05 March 2021

Antivirus software innovator John McAfee and his bodyguard have been indicted on fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges for fraudulently touting various cryptocurrencies on Twitter to further two separate schemes, Manhattan federal prosecutors said Friday.

Between December 2017 and October 2018, McAfee and private security guard Jimmy Gale Watson Jr. tricked investors into buying over a dozen different digital currencies in a pair of scams that allegedly netted the two men a combined $13 million in profits, according to a seven-count indictment unsealed Friday. Watson was also “executive advisor” of McAfee’s so-called cryptocurrency team, prosecutors said. Continue reading “Article: Software Pioneer John McAfee Indicted In Crypto Case”

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Article: Venezuela Oil Co. On The Hook For $40M Bond

Article - Media, Publications

Venezuela Oil Co. On The Hook For $40M Bond

Emma Whitford, 05 March 2021

A New York judge has ordered Venezuela’s national oil company to repay about $40 million it owed to a Portuguese pipeline company on a defaulted bond, saying the oil giant failed to prove that it was impossible to repay the debt due to U.S. sanctions.

Petróleos de Venezuela SA and its subsidiary did not manage to turn up documents from Portuguese banks showing that the banks had declined to honor attempted wire transfers from PDVSA to Cimontubo-Tubagens E Soldadura LDA of Portugal, U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels wrote. Continue reading “Article: Venezuela Oil Co. On The Hook For $40M Bond”

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Article: John McAfee Indicted On Fraud, Money Laundering Charges In Pump-And-Dump Crypto Scheme

Article - Media, Publications

John McAfee Indicted On Fraud, Money Laundering Charges In Pump-And-Dump Crypto Scheme

Rachel Sandler, 05 March 2021

John McAfee was indicted on securities fraud and money laundering charges, the Justice Department announced Friday, adding to the antivirus software pioneer’s litany of legal problems stemming from more than a decade of sometimes bizarre behavior.

McAfee and an advisor of his cryptocurrency team, Jimmy Watson Jr., were indicted on several counts of conspiracy to commit commodities and securities fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy offenses.

Prosecutors say McAfee and his cryptocurrency team used his Twitter account, which has a million followers, to promote Initial Coin Offerings without disclosing he was being paid by the ICO issuers to do so. Continue reading “Article: John McAfee Indicted On Fraud, Money Laundering Charges In Pump-And-Dump Crypto Scheme”

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Article: Bank of America, Morgan Stanley win dismissal of metals spoofing litigation

Article - Media, Publications

Bank of America, Morgan Stanley win dismissal of metals spoofing litigation

Jonathan Stempel, 05 March 2021

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A federal judge in Manhattan on Thursday dismissed litigation by traders and trading firms accusing Bank of America Corp and Morgan Stanley of manipulating the precious metals futures market by placing trades and then cancelling them before execution, or “spoofing”.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman in Manhattan said the June 2019 lawsuit over alleged spoofing in gold, silver, platinum and palladium futures from 2007 to 2014 was filed long after the two-year federal statute of limitations had run out.

The investors said the clock started in January 2018 when the traders Edward Bases and John Pacilio, both from Connecticut and also defendants, were charged with commodities fraud. Six other people were criminally charged at the time. Continue reading “Article: Bank of America, Morgan Stanley win dismissal of metals spoofing litigation”

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Article: Mercurity Fintech Holding Inc. Announced Changes to Board Composition

Article - Media, Publications

Mercurity Fintech Holding Inc. Announced Changes to Board Composition

PRNewswire, 04 March 2021

Mercurity Fintech Holding Inc. (the “Company” or “MFH”) (Nasdaq: MFH) today announced that Mr. Cong Huang has been appointed as Independent Director to the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”), and Mr. Liu Hao has been appointed as a Director to the Board. These changes were put into effect on March 4, 2021.

Mr. Cong Huang is a renowned researcher and entrepreneur in financial technology innovation. After receiving the PhD degree in Statistics from Yale University, he worked at Columbia University as an Assistant Professor in the Statistics Department, conducting research focused on algorithms and implementations in data mining. After a period of time, he decided to leave campus to develop his career in financial innovation and technology. At Goldman Sachs (GS), he played a pivotal role in developing various new models and algorithms to improve the speed and accuracy of options pricing methods. At McKinsey & Company, he helped financial institutions implement strategic innovation and transformation initiatives. Continue reading “Article: Mercurity Fintech Holding Inc. Announced Changes to Board Composition”

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Article: Watchdog bans City of London trader for ‘wash trading’

Article - Media, Publications

Watchdog bans City of London trader for ‘wash trading’

Hannah Godfrey, 04 March 2021

The city watchdog has banned ex-City of London trader Adrian Geoffrey Horn after he engaged in ‘wash trading’, a form of market abuse.

Horn, who worked as a market making trader at Cheapside-based Stifel Nicolaus Europe, was fined £52,000 by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and banned for carrying out any regulated work in the future. Continue reading “Article: Watchdog bans City of London trader for ‘wash trading’”

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Article: FCA Fines Ex-Stifel Nicolaus Trader For Misleading Market

Article - Media, Publications

FCA Fines Ex-Stifel Nicolaus Trader For Misleading Market

Najiyya Budaly, 04 March 2021

The Financial Conduct Authority said Thursday it has fined a former Stifel Nicolaus trader and banned him from regulated activities for executing 129 so-called wash trades that misled the market about demand for his client’s shares.

The City watchdog said it has fined Adrian Geoffrey Horn £52,500 ($73,302) for market abuse and banned him indefinitely from performing any function related to a regulated activity. Horn was a former market making trader at Stifel Nicolaus Europe Ltd., which meant that he both bought and sold securities. Continue reading “Article: FCA Fines Ex-Stifel Nicolaus Trader For Misleading Market”

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Article: Ignoring years of silver price manipulation, Orwellian CFTC now goes after Reddit Apes

Article - Media, Publications

Ignoring years of silver price manipulation, Orwellian CFTC now goes after Reddit Apes

Ronan Manly, Bullion Star, 04 March 2021

On Monday 1 March, an article in Bloomberg Law by CFTC connected lawyers from law firm Clifford Chance revealed that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is reportedly investigating retail silver trader activity in the silver price and that the US Department of Justice looks set to investigate as well.

Before looking at this shocker of an Orwellian development, it’s helpful to provide some context on the CFTC’s track behavior in this area and to show how hypocritical such a development would be. Continue reading “Article: Ignoring years of silver price manipulation, Orwellian CFTC now goes after Reddit Apes”

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Tweet: Anders Melin on Congress & Robinhood & Citadel

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Anders Melin
@MelinAnders

Robinhood just got asked by two lawmakers to send over its payment-for-order-flow contracts with market makers such as Citadel.

The letter came from @RepCindyAxne and @RepBillFoster

Robert Steele
@OSSRobertSteele

@Jim_Jordan @RepCindyAxne @RepBillFoster all market makers cheat and both Senate and House committees are complicit in http://wall-street-crime.org shall we dance? The tag cloud of names grows daily.

THE DOLLAR HAS NO INTRINSIC VALUE : DO YOUR ASSETS?