A Swedish businessman, Roger Nils-Jonas Karlsson, has pleaded guilty to securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering charges. Karlsson allegedly scammed millions out of 3,575 victims using a reversed pension cryptocurrency investment scam. In total, Karlsson brought in $16 million from the operation. Karlsson was the CEO of Eastern Metal Securities, which was also charged in a criminal complaint filed on March 4 of last year.
Karlsson used six different aliases and was arrested three months after the complaint was filed in Thailand, later extradited to the United States. Karlsson allegedly used a website associated with his fraudulent company to make false representations and convince victims to buy shares in a pre-funded reversed pension plan. Karlsson allegedly told investors that they would receive an eventual payout of 1.15 kilograms of gold per $100 share. However, he then transferred the money into his personal bank account, using the funds to buy expensive homes and a resort in Thailand.
Read More: Cryptocurrency Fraudster Steals $16m