Crypto Fraud and failures

[Buckey]

Bitcointopia

https://coinspice.io/news/bitcointopia-inc-founder-morgan-rockoons-pleads-guilty-in-land-fraud-wire-case/

Bitcointopia Inc Founder Morgan Rockoons Pleads Guilty
This time a year ago, major news outlets were suggesting Morgan Rockoons and his advocacy of bitcoin-related everything would be a precedent setting event, a test case in how far law enforcement would allow cryptocurrency advocates to trade in and out of fiat.

His eventual plea deal, however, appears to have more to do with business fraud than cryptocurrency in particular. Rockoons was first arrested on charges of money transmission violations without a proper financial license. A transmitter must declare deals over $10,000 and follow know-your-customer (KYC) regulations as dictated by FinCEN and the US Treasury.

Officials insist Rockoons violated the above, operating without a license and exchanging more than $10,000 in fiat, transferring “about $9,200 in bitcoin to the agent for $14,500 in cash, taking the remainder as a transaction fee,” the San Diego Union Tribune noted. He was arrested, let out on bail, remaining defiant about his innocence and the relative absurdity of the charges. It did seem prosecutors were looking to make an example of him.

Bitcoin City
He doubled down on his activism, however, and while out on bail with charges still hanging over his head Rockoons linked up with a plan to start an idealistic community, a “Bitcoin City,” and set about advertising that fact in video, blogs, and podcasts. By July of last year, his group published the Blockchainist Papers, declaring their independence from the US government.

Bitcointopia Inc was launched, and prosecutors assert he and partners pushed parcels of undeveloped land in Elko County, Nevada, “500 to 1,000-acre plots for 0.5 bitcoin per acre — where he would build a city of the future around cryptocurrency, automation and technology. He was inspired by Walt Disney’s Tomorrowland,” the Union Tribune explained. Law enforcement documented 10 investors gave Rockoons money for land.