- A cryptocurrency trading course instructor has been accused of defrauding his students.
- Brian Sewell allegedly extorted around $1.2 million from 15 students.
- However, all of his funds were lost when his cryptocurrency wallet was hacked.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has taken legal action against Brian Sewell, a cryptocurrency academy instructor, for allegedly defrauding his students. According to the SEC, he extorted approximately $1.2 million from 15 students.
The SEC claims that from early 2018 until mid-2019, Sewell convinced hundreds of his students to invest in a hedge fund called the Rockwell Fund. He promised that the fund would utilize advanced technology, including artificial intelligence, to generate substantial profits for investors.
“Sewell received around $1.2 million from 15 students, but he never launched the fund or implemented the trading strategies he promised. Instead, he kept the invested money in bitcoin, which was stored in a wallet that was ultimately hacked, resulting in the loss of all the funds,” stated the SEC.
Sewell has neither admitted nor denied the allegations made by the SEC. To settle the case, his company, Rockwell Capital Management, has agreed to pay damages and interest totaling more than $1.6 million, while Sewell himself will pay a civil penalty of $223,229.
In a previous report, we highlighted another case of cryptocurrency fraud involving a US pastor, who was accused of defrauding investors of more than $1.3 million.