According to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bryan Lee conspired with Neil Chandran and other stakeholders behind CoinDeal to defraud investors in companies controlled by Chandran.
These are the companies that operated under the ViRSE brand: Free Vi Lab, Studio Vi Inc.
And Skalex USA Inc. These companies were allegedly associated with virtual reality and were engaged in the development of their own cryptocurrency, which could be used in the meta-universe.
Lee was the nominal owner and director of ViMarket. He received instructions from Chandran to transfer customer funds from ViMarket bank accounts.
Prosecutors allege that Lee and Chandran misappropriated several million dollars belonging to investors, spending the money on luxury cars and real estate.
Lee is charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, and criminal money transactions. If Lee is found guilty, he faces up to 20 years in prison for each count, as well as up to 10 years in prison for each count of illegal money transactions.
In January of this year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) indicted Chandran and several others involved in the CoinDeal scheme.
Chandran himself was arrested in June 2022. In February 2023, another participant in the CoinDeal cryptocurrency scheme, Michael Glaspie, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 16.
Recall that in April, the U.S. Justice Department seized $112 million in crypto assets from money laundering scammers.
Earlier this year, the agency said that about 800 investors affected by the BitConnect cryptocurrency pyramid will receive compensation of more than $17 million.