A New Albany, Ohio man was arrested Friday on charges of wire fraud. Rathnakishore Giri is accused of running a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme worth at least $10 million, the Justice Department announced.
Mr. Giri promoted himself to investors as an expert in trading Bitcoin derivatives, a claim authorities allege was both fraudulent and misleading. According to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which filed a civil enforcement action against Mr. Giri in August, his alleged scheme lasted from March 2019 to at least August 2022.
Mr. Giri is accused of promising investors big returns for no risk, with an alleged guarantee that they would be given back their principal investment.