Jack Abramoff, a former lobbyist convicted of various corruption charges in the early 2000s, has been charged with conspiracy in a new cryptocurrency case filed by U.S. prosecutors.
In a statement released Thursday, Kristina Littman, the chief of the Security and Exchanges Commission Enforcement Division’s Cyber Unit, accused Abramoff and other defendants of falsifying information to investors of a novel cryptocurrency.
“We allege that these defendants repeatedly misled investors into funding non-existent technology, falsely claiming that the technology would make digital asset transactions more secure,” the statement read.
San Francisco U.S. Attorney David Anderson said Abramoff has pleaded guilty to charges and could face up to five years in prison. Abramoff is also being charged in a second suit brought by the SEC, which accuses him of participating in a fraudulent offer of a cryptocurrency stemming from his involvement with AML BitCoin, a digital asset that Abramoff claimed was “a new and improved version of bitcoin.”
Abramoff previously served four years in prison after being found guilty of fraud, tax evasion, and conspiracy to bribe a public official in 2006.
