Founder of the EmpiresX cryptocurrency pyramid scheme confessed to promoting the Ponzi scheme

Joshua Nicholas, co-founder of the EmpiresX cryptocurrency pyramid scheme, pleaded guilty to fraud with users' funds — Nicholas admitted to promoting an investment scheme based on the Ponzi scheme model. As it became known, Joshua Nicholas and his accomplices, Emerson Pires and Flavio Gonçalves, sold unregistered securities and «guaranteed» investors high returns by investing in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The offenders paid the funds received from new investors to previous investors — a standard Ponzi scheme. According to preliminary estimates, the fraudsters managed to obtain about $ 100 million. According to law enforcement agencies, Nicholas currently faces up to 5 years in prison, and the date of sentencing has not yet been set. Interestingly, it was previously reported that the co-founders of EmpiresX face 25 to 45 years in prison.