Engineered by Benzinga Neuro , 37-year-old entrepreneur Diana Mae Fernandez is facing charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for allegedly misappropriating investor funds, falsely promising substantial returns from crypto investments for her own personal benefit.
The SEC filed a formal complaint on Dec. 21 in the Northern District of West Virginia, documenting that Fernandez raised a total of approximately $364,000 from no less than 20 investors for two* entities – The Self-Made Success and Diana Mae K., LLC. However, the SEC alleges that the potential shareholders were deceived – having been informed that Fernandez had amassed more than 15 years of investing experience across 25+ countries, despite these claims being fictitious.
Instead of using the collected capital for the crypto investments promised, Fernandez is thought to have spends any monies for her own personal use, with investors being hindered from the substantial returns they were initially promised. This was further perpetuated as old investors repaid with ‘Ponzi-like’ payments new* contributors.
In July of this year, United States prosecutors took a similar stance, filing charges of investment fraud against the self-styled entrepreneur. Despite being arrested in Serbia, potentially facing simultaneous incarceration for 20 years per count, current developments showcases the SEC’s ongoing crackdown on malicious crypto activity. On Dec. 28, a federal judge sided with the SEC in its case against Terraform Labs and Do Kwon, charged with offering and selling unapproved securities unrelated to crypto-assets
Most recently, SEC officials held discussions with key companies such as BlackRock Inc., thereafter giving these firms a deadline date of Dec. 29 against amendments on proposed Bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETF). Additionally, MicroStrategy’s CEO Michael Saylor brings more good news for Dogecoin by purchasing huge amounts of BTC. Analysts anticipate that these actions will cause upsides in Doge and other altcoins soon.
With so much activity in the crypto space, it’s important for investors to take caution and educate themselves on safe practices for their investments, no matter how promising they look.
