Cryptoexchange founder accused of defrauding investors of $2 billion

The founder of cryptocurrency exchange platform BitConnect illegally took more than $2 billion in digital money from investors in a securities sale that wasn't approved by federal regulators, a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday in New York alleges. 

The Securities and Exchange Commission said in its complaint that Satish Kumbhani and Glenn Arcaro were the main perpetrators in a "Ponzi-like" scheme from early 2017 through January 2018 that defrauded investors of their money. BitConnect enticed investors into pouring money into the company while promising to generate returns of as much as 40% a month, federal regulators allege. Those eye-popping returns were a fabrication, the SEC claims. According to the agency's complaint, Kumbhani and Arcaro instead took 325,000 Bitcoin, valued at more than $2 billion, and transferred it into their own digital wallets as well as to unknown associates. Kumbhani, 35, of India, founded BitConnect and Arcaro, 44, of California, is the company's top U.S.-based promoter, federal regulators said.