US attacks SafeMoon crypto project and its leaders

The DOJ accuse 3 top executives from SafeMoon from fraud and whitening. The CEO and the CTO of the startup were arrested. The third frame is still running.

Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice has unveiled an indictment against Braden John Karony, Kyle Nagy and Thomas Smith. The DOJ accuses the three leaders of the crypto SafeMoon of conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering.

As alleged, the defendants lied to SFM investors about whether SFM’s use of “blocked” cash was inaccessible to the defendants, as well as about their personal holdings and trading of SFM. While SFM’s market capitalization reached more than $8 billion, the defendants fraudulently misappropriated millions of dollars of SFM’s purportedly “blocked” cash for their personal benefit,” the DOJ wrote.

We learn that two of the defendants, Karony and Smith, were arrested just prior to the announcement of the US government’s prosecution, and that the third, Nagy, is currently nowhere to be found.

Launched in March 2021, the SafeMoon cryptocurrency was subject to a 10% tax on exchanges. Taxed SFMs were transferred to so-called “locked” pools to improve the token’s liquidity.

The defendants deliberately misled investors and misappropriated millions of dollars to fuel their greedy scheme and enrich themselves by purchasing a custom Porsche sports car, other luxury vehicles and real estate,” added prosecutor Peace.

Last spring, SafeMoon made headlines after a $9 million hack. The hacker eventually returned some of the funds. We can now wonder about his true identity.

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