Federal grand juries have indicted 10 executives and employees for organizing pump-and-dump schemes that defrauded investors in the USA and other countries.

The charges involve employees at Gotbit, Vortex, Antier, and Contrarian. Three individuals, two of whom are CEOs, were arrested and extradited from Singapore. Gotbit had already faced consequences earlier in a previous phase of Operation Token Mirrors.

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“In addition to the three extradited individuals, two others have already pleaded guilty, and Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín has sentenced them,” the press release states.

The charges come from a joint operation by the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). Federal agents created several cryptocurrencies to expose illegal wash trading services from market-making companies.

Wash trading is a type of market manipulation where traders buy and sell the same asset multiple times to create a false impression of high activity. This artificial trading volume can deceive investors, increase perceived demand, and affect prices.

The ten indicted have nationalities that span Russia, India, Taiwan, and Serbia. The spread shows that manipulation in the crypto market occurs across national borders.

More than 1 million USD in cryptocurrency has been seized so far. Additionally, each person faces up to 20 years in prison plus fines of up to 250,000 USD if convicted.

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