A crypto CEO who fabricated links to Disney, Pfizer, and Apple in order to shill $21 million worth of his own company\u2019s token pleaded guilty to securities fraud last week. <\/p>\n
54-year-old Michael Alan Stollery was CEO of cryptocurrency investment platform Titanium Blockchain Infrastructure Services (TBIS). The company advertised itself as a legit crypto investment opportunity and invited investors to purchase its BARS token in an initial coin offering (ICO).<\/p>\n
However, the ICO was based almost entirely on lies with Stollery and TBIS inventing relationships with a number of big-name clients to add legitimacy.<\/p>\n
Stollery made a point of namedropping these companies in interviews<\/strong>, listed them on TBIS\u2019s website, and even went as far as to tweet out a chart packed with names and logos. Shortly after the ICO ended, a number of these firms contacted Stollery demanding he stop using their name. In his defense, he said, \u201cI did not know that a procedure would need to have been followed, etc.\u201d<\/p>\n Around this time, TBIS announced that 16 million BAR tokens had been stolen from its digital wallets \u201cin a malicious act\u201d and instructed trading platforms to stop BAR trading.<\/p>\n In response to the theft, TBIS created another token called TBAR which was designed to replace BAR on a 1:1 ratio<\/strong>, and announced that it would issue the new asset to all investors who had purchased the original BAR during the ICO.<\/p>\n Stollery also created fake company testimonials, adding them to TBIS\u2019s website, and falsely claimed to have trademarked the phrases \u201cMining as a Service,\u201d \u201cThe Ultimate Strength of the Blockchain\u2026Unleashed,\u201d and \u201cInstant ICO Incubator.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n To top it off, the California resident failed to register the ICO<\/strong> and TBIS\u2019s investment offering with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).<\/p>\n In an interview with the YouTube channel P2P Crypto, Stollery said: \u201cThese relationships are real. We\u2019re in talks with McDonald\u2019s, with Walt Disney, with Intel, with Verizon right now\u2026 We\u2019ve got quite a client list.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more: <\/em>Voyager Digital duped customers with FDIC insurance<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n However, that was never the case. \u201cThis ICO was based on a social media marketing blitz<\/strong> that allegedly deceived investors with purely fictional claims of business prospects,\u201d said<\/a> the SEC Enforcement Division\u2019s Cyber Unit in a 2018 statement (our emphasis).<\/p>\n Stollery spent the money raised in the ICO like it was his own, dipping into the $21 million pot to fund the upkeep of his Hawaiian apartment and make credit card payments totaling $50,000.<\/p>\n A lawyer representing Stollery claimed<\/a> he had initially intended to run TBIS as a legitimate business<\/strong> but in the end, took it too far. Despite all this, his lawyer said, \u201cHe\u2019s very remorseful and he wants to get as much money as possible back to those that put their money in,\u201d (our emphasis).\u00a0<\/p>\n The case was first brought to light in 2018 when a complaint<\/a> against Stollery was made to the SEC. The ICO was halted, Stollery\u2019s assets were frozen, and he was eventually charged earlier this month.<\/p>\n Stollery will be sentenced<\/a> on November 18 and may face up to 20 years in prison<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n For more informed news, follow us on\u00a0<\/em>Twitter<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>Google News<\/em><\/a>\u00a0or listen to our investigative podcast\u00a0<\/em>Innovated: Blockchain City<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/protos.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Screenshot-2022-07-26-at-13.44.09-794x1024.png\")