The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged three “purported” crypto asset trading platforms and four investment clubs in an alleged investment confidence scam that they say defrauded retail investors out of more than $14 million.
The complaint names Morocoin Tech Corp., Berge Blockchain Technology Co. Ltd. and Cirkor Inc., which allegedly claimed to be government licensed crypto asset trading platforms, and investment clubs AI Wealth Inc., Lane Wealth Inc., AI Investment Education Foundation Ltd. and Zenith Asset Tech Foundation.
The SEC alleges that the scheme involved an elaborate, multi-step fraud that was operated by the named investment clubs between at least January 2024 and January 2025. According to the complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado on Monday, retail investors were lured to group chats on Whatsapp through social media ads.
Once in the groups, fraudsters posed as financial professionals and supplied AI-generated investment tips, leading investors to open and fund accounts on the so-called crypto asset trading platforms. The platforms claimed to offer “security token offerings” issued by legitimate businesses, the SEC said in a release, but “in reality, no trading took place on the trading platforms, which were fake, and the security token offerings and their purported issuing companies did not exist.”
According to the regulator’s complaint, the defendants misappropriated at least US$14 million from U.S. investors, using a “web of bank accounts and crypto asset wallets” to funnel the funds overseas.
The SEC is seeking permanent injunctions and civil penalties against all of the defendants, and disgorgement with prejudgment interest against Morocoin, Berge and Cirkor.
“This matter highlights an all-too-common form of investment scam that is being used to target U.S. retail investors with devastating consequences,” said Laura D’Allaird, chief of the cyber and emerging technologies unit in a release. “Fraud is fraud, and we will vigorously pursue securities fraud that harms retail investors.”