The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has stated that “Coin Signals” operator, Jeremy Spence, must pay $44 million in penalties after failing to answer a previous Complaint within the permitted time. The CFTC has now filed for a default judgement against the former operator in conjunction with the New York Southern District Court, consisting of a restitution obligation, civil monetary fine and indefinite injunctive relief.
Spence was initially charged with fraud in January 2021, having been found to be operating an illegal Ponzi scheme where he solicited over $5 million from over 170 investors. The Ponzi scheme involved digital assets, including bitcoin and ether, to entice customer trust with the promise of profits in return for investment.
The initial complaint filed at the start of the year alleged that Spence’s Ponzi scheme resulted in extreme losses for customers and that his payouts from alleged ‘profits’ were in fact the misappropriated funds of other victims of the scheme. Spence had attempted to hide his illegal activities by falsifying the number of assets he possessed under management, as well as his trading profitability. He also misappropriated customer funds and issued false performance statements to conceal his fraud.
