A Denver, Colorado-based on-line pastor and his spouse have been indicted Tuesday on prices associated to a cryptocurrency fraud scheme that raised greater than $3 million from faith-based traders.
On-line pastor Eli Regalado and his spouse, Kaitlyn, have been indicted on 40 counts stemming from what Denver District Legal professional John Walsh described as a “multi-million-dollar cryptocurrency rip-off.”
Between January 2022 and July 2023, the Regalados allegedly solicited practically $3.4 million by encouraging folks of their non secular community to purchase INDXcoin, a token they created and offered by way of the Kingdom Wealth Trade platform.
They spent at the least $1.3 million on private expenditures, together with a house renovation that they allegedly claimed “the Lord” advised them to do, whereas solely a small quantity of the proceeds went to the enterprise enterprise.
In response to the indictment, at the least 300 folks invested within the token, which authorities say “maintained zero worth,” leading to complete losses for all traders.
“These prices mark a serious step ahead in our work to carry the Regalados accountable for his or her alleged crimes and to deliver a measure of justice to the victims,” stated Walsh in a Tuesday press launch, including:
“I wish to thank the prosecutors and investigators in my workplace, and, significantly, the investigators with the Colorado Division of Securities and the Colorado Legal professional Common’s Workplace, whose excellent work on the case resulted on this indictment.”
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Pastor claims divine steering
The indictment comes six months after the Colorado-based on-line pastor and his spouse have been charged with fraud for his or her position in issuing and advertising and marketing the INDXcoin rip-off token to their followers, Cointelegraph reported on Jan. 22.
“We allege that Mr. Regalado took benefit of the belief and religion of his personal Christian group and that he peddled outlandish guarantees of wealth to them when he offered them basically nugatory cryptocurrencies,” said Colorado Securities Commissioner Tung Chan on the time, including:
“The criticism alleges that Regalado focused Christian communities in Denver and claimed that God advised him immediately that traders would change into rich in the event that they put cash into INDXcoin.”
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Cryptocurrency scams are a rising challenge for retail traders. In Could, an FBI-led investigation led to the arrest of a New Zealand-based man who allegedly stole $265 million value of digital property.
Authorities say the funds have been used to purchase luxurious automobiles and designer items.
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