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On September 7th, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued a statement revealing that a federal judge in the Western District of Texas has ruled that Bitcoin pool operator MTI is guilty of forex fraud, improper registration, and non-compliance with CPO (Commodity Pool Operator) regulations. The judge has ordered MTI to pay $1.7 billion in restitution to the victims. BlockBeats previously reported on April 28th that a U.S. court had instructed the CEO of Bitcoin pool operator Mirror Trading International (MTI), Cornelius Johannes Steynberg, to pay $3.4 billion in restitution and fines, marking the highest civil penalty in a case handled by the CFTC. On July 1st of the previous year, the CFTC filed a civil enforcement lawsuit in the Western District of Texas, alleging fraud and improper registration against South African Bitcoin pool operator Mirror Trading International Proprietary Limited (MTI) and MTI's CEO, Cornelius Johannes Steynberg. The CFTC also noted that Steynberg had created and operated a global forex commodity pool through MTI, accepting only Bitcoin as payment. Steynberg was accused of directly or indirectly misappropriating Bitcoin payments made by participants, with an amount involved exceeding $1.7 billion. |
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