United States prosecutors have charged a man with wire fraud and money laundering charges after he allegedly defrauded two cloud computing providers to run a “large-scale illegal ‘cryptojacking’ operation," — with the perpetrator facing up to 50 years in prison.Charles O. Parks III, also known as “CP3O,” defrauded the two companies of $3.5 million to mine $970,000 in cryptocurrencies, including Ether marketplace.
He structured the payments in a bid to avoid the $10,000 minimum transaction reporting requirements under federal law, the indictment said. Prosecutors claimed to have found multiple instances of Parkes moving $9,999 and smaller amounts from the crypto exchange to a bank account. Prosecutors alleged Parks used the proceeds for “extravagant purchases,” including a luxury Mercedes Benz, jewelry and “first-class hotel and travel expenses.”
Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement: “This Office will continue to prioritize prosecuting criminal actors who use new, sophisticated technology to engage in the old scheme of fraud and deceit.”The real risks to Ethena’s stablecoin model