Ex-NYSE Broker Pleads Guilty To Crypto Scam

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Key Points:

• Michael Ackerman, former New York Stock Exchange broker, pleads guilty to wire fraud for orchestrating a multi-million dollar cryptocurrency investment scam.

• U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss of the Southern District of New York said “As he admitted today, Michael Ackerman raised millions of dollars in investments for his fake cryptocurrency scheme by falsely touting monthly returns of over 15 percent, falsifying documents to con investors into thinking his fund had a balance of over $315 million, and spending millions in investor funds on himself. Now Ackerman awaits sentencing for his crime.”

• Ackerman was the chief trading officer at “Q3”, an investment club that boasted about its proprietary algorithm that guaranteed crypto trading returns to hundreds of investors.

• Between 2018 and 2019 Ackerman stole atleast $9 million from Q3, which he spent on jewelry, cars, personal security, and travel according the Southern District of New York.

• Ackerman will make restitution of atleast $30.6 million and forfeit more than $36 million in a mix of different assets that he acquired illegally. He will face sentencing on Jan. 5, 2022.