Prosecutors await a guilty plea from an alleged $7 million fraudster

Jon Barry Thompson, the operator accused of a fraudulent crypto-cash service with which he defrauded two clients out of $7 million, is expected to plead guilty; prosecutors aim to complete the proceedings in September.

„The parties expect to reach a disposition of this matter and respectfully request that the court set a control date of September 2020 for the entry of such a disposition,“ the prosecution wrote in a letter submitted to the court.

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In April, Thompson’s lawyer, Peggy Cross-Goldenberg, indicated that both parties had made „substantial progress“ towards the provision.

Four counts of fraud

Thompson was charged in September 2019 with four counts of fraud related to his provision of cryptomoney custody services through his company Volantis Market Making. After being arrested in Pennsylvania, Thompson was released on $500,000 bail.

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Prosecutors claim that Thompson received USD 3 million to finance the purchase of The News Spy on behalf of a company during June and July 2018. Thompson sent the funds to a third entity without first receiving any BTC, which resulted in the apparent loss of the funds.

After allegedly lying to the company about the status of the transaction, Thompson convinced a second company to send USD 4 million to buy cryptosystems, which also resulted in a significant portion of the funds being sent to a third party without the client receiving any BTCs.

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Thompson faces two counts of commodity fraud, each with a penalty of up to 10 years in prison, and two counts of wire fraud, each with a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

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Volantis also faces civil charges filed through the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), while Thompson also faces a lawsuit filed by Irish company Symphony FS, which is believed to have provided the $4 million to Volantis for custody services.