A Federal Judge, ex-Senator and Crypto-Related Crime

Cryptocurrencies offer a number of advantages compared to fiat currencies. However, there are certain problems as well. On April 21, a Texas federal judge ordered bench warrants for former Republican senator David Schmidt and cohort Robert Dunlap. Both of them failed to appear and the judge decided to take measures against them. This case is connected with the crypto-related crime.

Judge Robert Pitman issued warrants for the arrest of an ex-Washington state senator and the leaders who orchestrated the cryptocurrency scam involving the Meta 1 coin.

At the hearing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) judge, Pitman made this decision. However, in the case of the third defendant, Nicole Bowdler, the judge decided not to arrest the third defendant. The judge gave, the last chance to Bowdler, and she has to comply by April 24.

Securities and Exchange Commission vs crypto scammers

It is worth mentioning that, the arrest warrants are part of an ongoing case from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regarding the Meta 1 coin. This crypto scam allegedly backed by former senator, promised investors the coins were backed with $1 billion in fine art or $2 billion of gold holdings, without having actual tokens.

On March 16, the SEC froze the cryptocurrency assets and charged with the firm’s operators with fraud.

Nevertheless, a former senator, as well as Dunlop, continued to sell the tokens despite the decision of SEC. Based on the information provided by the SEC, the three defendants raised more than $4.3 million from Meta 1 “investors”.

A Texas federal judge chose an arrest warrant for the Schmidt and Dunlop, over a fine for one reason. Judge Pitman said that fine would not be enough to force them to appear at the court. Both of them have enough money to pay the fine. Thus, he made the decision to arrest them.

Crypto-related crimes have a negative impact on the reputation of crypto companies. Such companies should work together with authorities to identify crypto-related scams such as Meta 1 coin.