Michael Alan, The founder, and CEO of crypto investment platform Titanium Blockchain has pleaded guilty to his role in a cryptocurrency scam in the US District Court in Los Angeles. Michael Alan Stollery raised $21 million in the initial public offering of virtual currency BAR.
JUST IN: Titanium Blockchain CEO Michael Stollery pleads guilty to conducting a $21 million ICO fraud.
— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) July 25, 2022
Stollery used some of it to pay bills for his Hawaii condo, the Securities and Exchange Commission alleges. According to prosecutors, Stollery lured investors to buy cryptocurrencies issued by his firm through false and misleading statements. In addition to falsifying information about the cryptocurrency itself, Stollery placed false references on the company’s website and presented fictitious business relationships to attract investors.
From November 2017 to January 2018, he raised about $21 million from investors in the US and abroad. Stollery was guilty on several fronts when he did not register his company identification number with the US Securities and Exchange Commission as required.
Stollery’s attorney, Andrew Holmes, said that the bankruptcy trustee now holds most of the funds transferred to crypto. “He is very remorseful and wants to pay back as much money as possible,” Holmes said.
According to Holmes, Stollery is currently out of custody and is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov 18. According to the Ministry of Justice, he is imprisoned for up to twenty years.
