The promoter of foreign cryptocurrency companies B2G and Start Options admitted his involvement in a multimillion-dollar scheme to defraud investors.
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that John DeMarr of Santa Ana, California pleaded guilty for his role in a coordinated scheme to steal $11.4 million from hundreds of retail investors.
DeMarr admitted that he conspired with others to defraud unsuspecting investors by luring them to invest in B2G and Start Options. DeMarr used false and misleading misrepresentations to induced investors to invest in fraudulent and unregistered securities offerings in the form of investment contracts.
DeMarr and others falsely claimed that Start Options is a cryptocurrency mining and trading platform. They also falsely claimed that B2G is an “ecosystem’ that would provide digital wallets, and enable users to trade B2G tokens, digital and fiat currencies “on a secure, comprehensive platform.”
The defendant also admitted that he and his co-conspirators started offering securities to investors in the United States and overseas through the Start Options website in approximately December 2017. Their securities offerings were in the form of investment contracts.
