American Bitcoin Academy Crypto Entrepreneur Settles SEC Fraud Charges for $1.2 Million

Another day, another SEC lawsuit related to digital assets.

Today, Wall Street's top regulator announced that a U.S. crypto entrepreneur has agreed to settle fraud charges for an online course he promoted called “American Bitcoin Academy.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleged on Friday that Brian Sewell and his company Rockwell Capital Management specifically encouraged students to invest in an AI-powered crypto hedge fund so they could make big money.

But after Sewell, 51, and his company received $1.2 million from 15 students as part of the allegedly fraudulent scheme, they kept the cash in the form of Bitcoin (BTC) and never launched the fund.

Later, according to the SEC, the BTC was eventually stolen through a hack – with all the invested money disappearing.

The complaint alleged that Sewell “converted and held investor funds into Bitcoin and then lost everything when the crypto asset wallet in which he held those assets was hacked and looted.”

“Sewell concealed the hack and losses from victim investors to prevent the fraud from being discovered,” the complaint continues.

Sewell has since agreed to settle the charges without admitting or denying the allegations.

Defendant Rockwell Capital Management agreed to pay disgorgement and advance interest totaling $1,602,089, while Sewell agreed to a civil penalty of $223,229, the regulator added.

SEC Enforcement Division Director Gurbir S. Grewal said: “We allege that Sewell defrauded students at his online American Bitcoin Academy of over $1 million through a series of lies about investment opportunities in his purported crypto hedge fund.”

He added that Sewell allegedly told students how much money they would make from his American Bitcoin Academy online crypto course – but that “never existed.”

“Whether it’s AI, crypto, DeFi or any other buzzword, the SEC will continue to hold accountable those who claim to use attention-grabbing technologies to lure and defraud investors,” Grewal warned.

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.

Learn Crypto Trading, Yield Farms, Income strategies and more at CrytoAnswers
https://nov.link/cryptoanswers