The Department of Justice has indicted Alexei Andriunin, the founder and CEO of crypto financial services company Gotbit, on charges of wire fraud and market manipulation conspiracy.
Andriunin, a Russian national living in Portugal, is accused of orchestrating a scheme to artificially inflate the trading volumes of his cryptocurrency company clients, including several based in the United States. He was arrested on October 16th.
The indictment, filed in the District of Massachusetts, also charges Gottbit and directors Qawi Jalili and Fedor Kedrov, who were named in an earlier indictment that was unsealed earlier this month. There is.
Prosecutors say Gotbit, which advertised itself as a “meme coin market maker,” used “wash trading” techniques to manipulate market activity from 2018 to 2024, and that cryptocurrencies were traded on CoinMarketCap and major transactions. The company claims that it has enabled companies to secure listings on platforms such as
Meme coins, which are often based on internet memes, can rise quickly in value but tend to experience sharp declines, a trend Gotbit says it has used to attract new customers. It is being said.
Court documents allege that Andriunin developed software specifically designed to perform wash trades, creating misleading trading activity that deceived investors and exchanges. The indictment also alleges that Gotbit employees promoted these services to clients, emphasizing techniques to avoid detection on public blockchains.
Gotbit reportedly facilitated millions of dollars in wash trades and made tens of millions of dollars from these activities, and Andriunin transferred a significant amount to his personal account on Binance. It is said that
The charges also highlight Gotbit's role in targeting memecoin investors through what prosecutors call a “pump-and-dump” scheme. These schemes involve inflating the trading volume of tokens to attract investors before selling their holdings at a profit, often at the expense of investors. It will be.
Prosecutors cited the Justice Department's “Operation Token Mirrors,” an investigation that involved creating fake digital tokens to observe manipulation tactics, as part of the evidence collected in the case.
If convicted, Andriunin could face up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud, in addition to fines, restitution and forfeiture. The conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Sentence will be determined by a federal judge based on U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
