Share this article
CFTC Sues Alleged Crypto Ponzi Scammer for $500K Theft
The CFTC is charging Breonna Clark and Venture Capital Investments with defrauding investors by pretending to run a commodity pool invested in crypto and foreign currency contracts.
By Nikhilesh De
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 12:18 p.m. Published Feb 14, 2020, 9:59 p.m.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is suing an alleged Ponzi scammer on claims he and his company raised half a million dollars for cryptocurrency investments, which instead went to personal uses.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
According to a press release, Breonna Clark, otherwise known as Eliot Clark or Alexander Pak, and his firm Venture Capital Investments Ltd. and The Life Group allegedly raised $534,829 from 72 victims, promising to invest funds in bitcoin , altcoins and foreign currency contracts. Instead, some $400,000 in funds went to personal uses, including the purchase of a BMW.
The CFTC is charging Clark with fraud by a commodity pool operator and commodity trading adviser, fraud by deceptive device, failure to register as a commodity pool operator and failure to register as a commodity trading advisor.
Clark created "false account statements" to mislead investors and used some of the funds he raised to pay off other investors, an attached complaint claims. "A small portion" of the funds were ultimately used to trade on the pool's behalf.
"At various times during the Relevant Period, several pool participants requested to withdraw funds from their accounts. In some instances, Clark failed to respond at all to a pool participant’s request. In other instances, Clark responded with false excuses. Among the false excuses Clark made to pool participants why Defendants could not comply was that the CFTC was conducting an 'audit,'" the complaint said (the CFTC did not conduct an audit).
Clark did not return any of the funds raised through the alleged scheme, the complaint said.
The press release thanked the Financial Supervision Commission of Bulgaria, Financial Markets Authority of New Zealand, Seychelles Financial Services Authority, St. Vincent and the Grenadines Financial Services Authority and the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority.
Read the full complaint below:
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Why Dogecoin’s drop below $0.13 is drawing institutional attention
DOGE's short-term direction depends on holding above the $0.1290–$0.1280 zone, with $0.1300 as immediate resistance.
What to know:
- Dogecoin experienced a sharp selloff, losing 5.5% and breaking critical technical levels, which signals a shift in short-term market structure.
- The decline was driven by increased selling pressure amid weaker risk sentiment and thinner liquidity, with volume surging 267% above average.
- DOGE's short-term direction depends on holding above the $0.1290–$0.1280 zone, with $0.1300 as immediate resistance.
Top Stories
