The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is charging the founder and CEO of crypto company Gotbit with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit market manipulation.
In a new press release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts claims that Russian national Aleksei Andriunin, 26, and two Gotbit directors offered and promoted crypto market manipulation services between 2018 and 2024.
According to authorities, Gotbit – known at the time as a market maker – allegedly engaged in market manipulation to artificially increase trading volumes for crypto projects, including companies located in the United States, although none specific entity has not been named.
Andriunin and his cohorts Fedor Kedrov and Qawi Jalili allegedly “trade washed” crypto assets by using computer code to inflate their trading volume and get them listed on websites such as CoinMarketCap, which tracks cryptocurrency trends , and larger crypto exchanges.
Gotbit allegedly marketed its illicit tactics to potential customers and traded the crypto assets on their behalf. Prosecutors say Gotbit received tens of millions of dollars for its fraudulent services.
According to the press release, Andriunin allegedly transferred a large portion of Gotbit’s profits to his personal Binance account.
Wash trading occurs when an entity buys and sells an asset simultaneously, often at inflated prices, giving the impression that there is increased demand and market activity around that asset.
If convicted of these charges, Andriunin faces a sentence of up to 20 years for wire fraud, five years in prison for conspiracy to commit market manipulation and wire fraud, as well as possible fines. , restitution and confiscation.
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