SEC Charges Texas Man With Running Bitcoin Ponzi Scheme

Okay, this is just rude, isn't it?

Bitcoin, for all my skepticism of the whole concept, might just have something after all. There must be something to it, to start attracting the higher level con games, eh? It sure attracted a loser on this one. Well..Maybe not loser for the term. He seems to have been winning, actually. Right up to the moment they busted his sorry butt.

What a way to shake confidence in a thing few in the general public even understand to hear about, let alone talk about.

The SEC alleges that Trendon T. Shavers, the founder and operator of Bitcoin Savings and Trust (BTCST), offered and sold Bitcoin-denominated investments, raising at least 700,000 Btc, or about $4.5 million at the time of the alleged take.

Well, off to a good start for a con game. Big numbers. Yes. Must have big numbers...so the little numbers being stolen don't get noticed. Greed though.....it's the downfall of all idiots and this one was no exception.

he transferred a bunch of the stuff to his day trading account, but it turns out he wasn't very good at it.

The SEC alleges that Shavers, who lives in McKinney, Texas, paid 507,148 Bitcoin in investor withdrawals and purported interest payments. He transferred at least 150,649 Bitcoin to his personal account at an online Bitcoin currency exchange. Shavers suffered a net loss from his day trading, but realized net proceeds of $164,758 from his sales of 86,202 Bitcoin. Shavers transferred $147,102 from his personal account at the online Bitcoin currency exchange to accounts he controlled at an online payment processor as well as his personal checking account. He used this money to pay his rent, utilities, and car-related expenses as well as for food and retail purchases and gambling.

Source

That's the spirit! Take what is, at heart, an anonymous or at least, fairly secure monetary system and blow the whole concept to little pieces by pulling criminal proceeds right into your very own private checking account, as if ..gee..no one will figure that one out. lol...

Hey, look at the bright side. If criminals were generally intelligent people? We'd be in a world of real hurt beyond this.

Still though...... This can't be helpful for Bitcoin's image to those not already comfortable with it on some level?

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Yup, he got about 460.00 bucks from me. I bought bit coins from them. Then I got an email saying that my purchase did not go through correctly but my money was gone. Wonder if ill get it back.

reply to post by becomingaware


I almost added a question about whether anyone here got burned on this specific scam, but figured it might be just a little personal to be bringing up in what must be a sore subject to some.

Well, given how much this hurts Bitcoin for that majority who know only stories like this appearing in the headlines? I hope they throw the book at him and knock him out of his chair with the impact.

I don't know if Bitcoin works long term or not ...but the shysters can give it a workable chance to try before destroying it with greed, wouldn't you think? Of course...we aren't talking about compassionate people here.

Wrabbit... at it again.. Let us try to vilify anything that is not under TPTWere.. Instead of worrying about G. Sachs stealing billions from each can of soft drink through their Aluminum scam.. Instead of worrying about interest rate fixing by JPM.. instead of mentioning HSBC paying a record fine for drug money.. and then getting caught after paying the fine doing the same thing.. and the endless real corruption which is going on... let us move to some idiot in a small money scam..

Well done... as usual..

Originally posted by R_Clark
Wrabbit... at it again.. Let us try to vilify anything that is not under TPTWere.. Instead of worrying about G. Sachs stealing billions from each can of soft drink through their Aluminum scam.. Instead of worrying about interest rate fixing by JPM.. instead of mentioning HSBC paying a record fine for drug money.. and then getting caught after paying the fine doing the same thing.. and the endless real corruption which is going on... let us move to some idiot in a small money scam..

Well done... as usual..

Looks like you covered ALL that in one paragraph. Wrabbit doesn't need to bring it up!

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


I think you might here lot more of this. Anytime something new comes along, there are going to be those trying to undermined it.

S&F

Originally posted by sonnny1
reply to post by Wrabbit2000

 

I think you might here lot more of this. Anytime something new comes along, there are going to be those trying to undermined it.

S&F

There certainly will be, won't there? You know, I'm entirely genuine in my OP by saying the fact this happened and happened to the level of a serious federal prosecution actually gives Bitcoin a stronger image to my thinking. Seriously, criminals are in it for profit at a ruthless level beyond honest investors or consumers. If this is worth scamming, it's worth looking closer at in general, IMO.

I don't know.. I've dabbled with Bitcoin and had others handle things for me with their own currency on a purchase or whatever but still just don't have the personal comfort to dive in and get involved beyond that. Maybe it will change over time.

Originally posted by R_Clark
Instead of worrying about G. Sachs stealing billions from each can of soft drink through their Aluminum scam.. Instead of worrying about interest rate fixing by JPM.. instead of mentioning HSBC paying a record fine for drug money..

Agree as well.
When the SEC takes down Goldman Sachs, JPM and other crooked financial institutions, then I'll know they are serious about serving justice and not taking down the competition for Wall Street Banks.

reply to post by jacobe001


So...basically, they ought to just ignore every other criminal within their jurisdiction until or unless they're willing to go after the largest entities on Earth? Thats kinda silly, isn't it? Like saying a street cop isn't serious about enforcing crime because he's busting a shoplifter out of a retail store and not going after the Mayor or leading employer of the city for thefts they may have committed.

The moral and situational relativism and justification of 'If it isn't the big boys, it's nothing' is how the pervasive attitude of scamming the system spreads to epidemic proportion. I don't see the benefit in looking down on enforcement strictly by scale of the scumbag they are nailing.

As a post in this very thread indicated, he had real living victims that lost real and serious money they couldn't replace or absorb the losses for. It makes it a very legitimate target to nail and prosecute.

* In terms of another post here figuring this was a bash Bitcoin thread? When am I ever subtle? This would be FAR too subtle a way to do that for my style. Bitcoin happened to make the story interesting in that it tied into what I know people here at ATS actually use on a daily basis. It doesn't make it a Bitcoin story anymore than a conventional Ponzi scammer makes it a story about the electronic banking system or the U.S. Currency produced by the Mint. It's WHAT he scammed with....it doesn't make the scam.

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000

Partial Quote
That's the spirit! Take what is, at heart, an anonymous or at least, fairly secure monetary system and blow the whole concept to little pieces by pulling criminal proceeds right into your very own private checking account, as if ..gee..no one will figure that one out. lol...

What "Spirit" might you be referring to may I ask? And why in Gods name are you defending these "Madoff" types?...........For my part I relied on my intuition, which is informed by the "Holy Spirit" for which I was told the moment I laid eyes on "BitCoin" that is was a fraud and most likely a Ponzi scheme. I have been advising people to stay clear of it!

reply to post by Lysistrata


Ummm... It was sarcasm. The "Spirit" would be the sheer level of stupid involved in what he did, as the article notes with a cutting remark of it's own, in basically busting himself by his own actions. I do find it amusing when such 'smart guys' are they're own worst downfall....or as one recent graphic I came across puts it?



That kinda says it all. I'm not sure how you'd see I'm defending anything. The scammer here is a criminal who happened to choose Bitcoin as his avenue of fraud to victimize other people with. I'm sure he'd have found something else if that wasn't around...and he deserves whatever he gets out of this. No defense involved here, of anything.