The founders of Forsage were charged in the United States for operating a fraudulent scheme worth $340 million, which falsely claimed to be a decentralized finance (DeFi) investment platform.
The U.S. Justice Department declared that four individuals from Russia – Vladimir Okhotnikov, Olena Oblamska, Mikhail Sergeev, and Sergey Maslakov – used social media to advertise Forsage as a lawful system when in actuality, it was a fraudulent scheme. The Justice Department made the announcement on Wednesday.
The Justice Department statement explained that Forsage utilized smart contracts on Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, and Tron, which were designed in a manner that resembled a Ponzi scheme. As soon as an investor purchased and got a “slot” in a Forsage smart contract, the smart contract automatically directed their funds to other Forsage investors. This resulted in earlier investors receiving payment from the funds of later investors.
In August, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused 11 individuals linked to Forsage of fraudulent activities. This recent development comes after that incident.
