An ordinary American family organized a $ 6 million cryptocurrency fraud scheme

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has charged a Tennessee couple with organizing a $ 6 million cryptocurrency investment scheme.

Between July 2022 and January 2023, Michael and Amanda Griffiths ran the «God's Blessing Through Cryptocurrency» pyramid scheme, which had more than 100 participants. According to the investigation, the couple used their real estate business to attract new wealthy victims. Among the victims were mortgage brokers and former clients of the Griffiths.

«Despite their lack of trading or other relevant experience, the defendants successfully convinced more than 100 people to send them more than $ 6 million to participate in the fraudulent commodity pool,» the CFTC said in a statement.

The criminals assured investors that their funds would be used to trade futures contracts on digital assets, but no trades were ever made. Instead, the couple kept $ 4 million on their personal crypto wallets, and used more than $ 1 million to pay off debts and buy luxury goods.

The CFTC also charged the couple for refusing to register with the agency.

The Commission demanded a permanent injunction against the Griffiths. However, the regulator noted that compensation to victims may be difficult due to the lack of funds available to the defendants.