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Booksey and Shillin Investigation: How Alan Bachkhaz and Walter Bernardo Built an International Crypto Fraud Ring

Independent research and on-chain verification conducted by ZachXBT, Loki, RugMuncher, Bubblemaps, and corroborated by reporting from CoinTelegraph and Decrypt. All findings confirmed through blockchain forensics, wallet analysis, direct communications, audio recordings, and documented X Spaces sessions.

They operated as a pair. One front-facing, one in the shadows. One loud, one quiet. But both pulling from the same pool of victims, running the same cons, and splitting the same stolen money.

Alan M. Bachkhaz and Walter Bernardo are the two names at the center of one of crypto's largest coordinated fraud operations. Together they are responsible for draining more than fifty million dollars from retail investors through illegal gambling, pump-and-dump token schemes, market manipulation, and the Mosciun NFT rug pull. Both are now international fugitives. Both are wanted by U.S. federal law enforcement. Neither has returned a cent.

This is the full account of their partnership, how it operated, who it destroyed, and where it stands today.

Known identities — Alan M. Bachkhaz: Booksey (@Booksey on X), Books, Daokwondo (also DaoKwondo, Daokwando, Dao Kwondo), The Book Sweepers (@thebooksweepers). Name also appears as Alen Bachkhaz, Allen Bachkhaz, Allan Bachkhaz, Alan Bakhaz, Alen Backhaz, Alan Bachkaz.

Known identities — Walter Bernardo: Shillin (@Shilllin on X), Shillin Villain, Alex, Villain. Also referenced as Shilllin (triple L), Shillin V, ShillinVillain.

Who Is Shillin? The Other Half of the Operation
Most coverage of this fraud ring leads with Bachkhaz. He is the louder name, the bigger X following, the face that got posted on stage at NFT events. But Walter Bernardo, operating as Shillin, Shillin Villain, and Alex, was not a sidekick. He was a co-operator.

Bernardo ran his own independent scam history before he ever linked up with Bachkhaz. He had already built a reputation in certain crypto circles as a serial rug puller who used X Spaces as a hunting ground. His method was the same one Bachkhaz perfected: build a following, create the illusion of insider knowledge, point that audience at a token, and sell into the wave of buying that follows.

When Bernardo and Bachkhaz found each other, it was not a mentorship or a junior-senior arrangement. It was a merger of two operators who recognized they could steal more together than apart. Bernardo brought his own audience, his own credibility within certain Spaces communities, and his own willingness to look people in the eye on a live call and promote something he knew was a scam.

Independent researchers including ZachXBT, Loki, and RugMuncher have traced Bernardo's wallet activity across multiple projects and confirmed patterns of coordinated selling, supply manipulation, and fund extraction that mirror Bachkhaz's operations exactly. The on-chain record does not lie. Bernardo was not along for the ride. He was driving.

Who Is Booksey? The Front Man
Alan Bachkhaz built his public persona on a lie. The luxury cars belonged to his girlfriend's father's dealership. The watches were borrowed or rented. The jewelry was not his. The entire image of a successful young entrepreneur was manufactured from scratch to serve a single purpose: making strangers trust him with their money.

Before crypto, Bachkhaz ran an illegal, unlicensed sports betting operation out of New Jersey. Unreported. Untaxed. A criminal enterprise from day one. That operation taught him the foundational skill he would carry into everything that followed: the ability to convert manufactured trust into cash.

When he moved into crypto, he refined that skill through the Ethereum Max scam, one of the most documented token frauds in the industry's history. Bachkhaz operated as a promotional arm of the project, funneling retail buyers into a token that insiders were actively dumping. He watched the mechanics up close, learned exactly how the cycle worked, and then spent years replicating it on his own.

On-chain analysis by ZachXBT, Bubblemaps, and RugMuncher, along with investigative reporting by CoinTelegraph and Decrypt, has confirmed Bachkhaz's direct involvement in over forty memecoin rug pulls across Solana, SUI, and Ethereum.

The Partnership: How Booksey and Shillin Operated Together
The Bachkhaz-Bernardo operation was effective because it was simple. Two promoters with separate audiences feeding the same scam tokens. Twice the reach. Twice the buying pressure. The same dump on the back end.

Here is how the machine ran:

Bachkhaz handled the broad promotional push. His X account (@Booksey) and associated accounts like The Book Sweepers (@thebooksweepers) were the primary megaphones. He would identify a token, take a position early, and then begin promoting it to his following. His posts, threads, and Spaces appearances were designed to create urgency and fear of missing out.

Bernardo worked the rooms. Operating as Shillin or Alex, he ran X Spaces sessions and group chats where he would reinforce whatever Bachkhaz was pushing. His role was the credibility layer. When a potential victim heard about a token from Booksey and then heard it again from Shillin in a live Spaces session with a room full of seemingly enthusiastic participants, the social proof felt overwhelming. That was by design.

The network amplified. Around the core duo, a ring of associated accounts pushed the same tokens to their own audiences. Accounts including @timamalla, @mikadontlouz, @cryptojulzss, @ianmiles, @itsnala, @cozypront, @yazanxbt, @nftcuz, and @ni7ric have been repeatedly documented promoting the same coins in the same time windows as Bachkhaz and Bernardo. Several of these individuals have been connected to the duo in person, including during their time in Dubai. They functioned as signal boosters in a coordinated promotional machine, driving retail money toward tokens that the inner circle was preparing to dump.

The dump was coordinated. Once enough retail capital had entered, Bachkhaz, Bernardo, and insiders would sell their positions into the buying pressure. The chart would collapse. The community would realize what happened. Bachkhaz and Bernardo would go silent, block anyone who confronted them, and begin the cycle again with a new token and fresh victims.

This was not a side hustle or a gray area. It was a full-time fraud business run by two people who understood exactly what they were doing. Audio recordings from X Spaces sessions capture both Bachkhaz and Bernardo discussing these mechanics in their own words. The recordings are in the hands of federal investigators.

The Token Graveyard: What Booksey and Shillin Left Behind
The list of tokens connected to the Bachkhaz-Bernardo fraud operation is extensive. Known scam tokens include:

$COPE — pumped, promoted across both networks, dumped on holders. $POGE — rug pulled after coordinated Spaces promotion. $BEAR — standard pump-and-dump execution. $MATRIX — market manipulation confirmed on-chain. $JIMBO — promoted aggressively, insiders exited, community abandoned. $BOBAOPA — same cycle. Promote, pump, extract, disappear.

Plus more than forty additional Solana memecoins and multiple SUI tokens that followed the identical pattern.

Independent researcher Loki's wallet tracing work, combined with Bubblemaps cluster analysis and ZachXBT's investigative findings, has mapped the fund flows across these projects. The money moved from retail buyers into wallets controlled by or associated with Bachkhaz and Bernardo, and from there into personal spending, gambling, and lifestyle maintenance. CoinTelegraph and Decrypt have both reported on elements of this token fraud activity.

The combined estimated damages across all projects exceed fifty million dollars. The bulk of Bachkhaz's share was lost gambling in Las Vegas casinos. The wealth was never real. It was transferred from victims to casino tables with a brief stop in Bachkhaz's wallet.

Mosciun: The Final Con They Ran Together
When the memecoin well started running dry and the gambling losses piled up, Bachkhaz and Bernardo went all in on one last extraction: Mosciun.

Mosciun was an NFT project on Solana. The pitch was premium. The promises were specific and material. Bachkhaz and Bernardo raised roughly one million dollars from minters based on the following commitments:

Ten custom Rolex watches for holders who minted rare NFTs from the collection. An activation event at the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix. An activation at Art Basel Miami. Sustained community engagement and real-world events.

Every single promise was broken.

Not one Rolex was delivered. The F1 event did not happen. Art Basel did not happen. No community events took place. Holders who minted rare pieces and were publicly told they had won watches attempted to reach Bachkhaz. He blocked them. Bernardo went silent. Neither provided any explanation, any timeline, or any refund.

While holders waited for rewards that would never arrive, Bachkhaz was simultaneously manipulating the Mosciun supply on-chain, coordinating sells that destroyed the floor price. He was also running undisclosed paid promotions for a separate token called Aster, which collapsed and inflicted additional millions in losses on Mosciun holders who had no idea they were exposed.

RugMuncher's forensic analysis of the Mosciun contract and associated wallets confirmed the supply manipulation and mapped the extraction. ZachXBT's independent findings corroborated the fund flows. The evidence is permanent, on-chain, and impossible to alter.

Inducing purchases through material promises, collecting funds, delivering nothing, manipulating the asset's price, and then fleeing the country is securities fraud by any definition. This is the core of what the DOJ, SEC, and FBI are investigating.

The Escape: Two Operators, Two Countries
When the legal pressure reached a point where staying in the United States became untenable, both men ran.

Alan M. Bachkhaz flew to Dubai. He is there now. He is wanted by U.S. federal law enforcement including the FBI and faces arrest the moment he sets foot on American soil.

Walter Bernardo flew to Colombia. Same status. Wanted. Facing arrest upon return.

Several members of their associated network, including individuals behind accounts like @timamalla, @cozypront, @yazanxbt, and others from the documented fraud ring, have also been connected to Dubai during this period. The extent of their ongoing coordination from abroad is part of the active investigation.

Neither Bachkhaz nor Bernardo has returned any money to any investor from any project. Not from Mosciun. Not from the memecoin rug pulls. Not from anything. The funds are gone. The operators are gone. Thirteen active legal cases are what remain.

The Legal Picture
Thirteen separate legal actions are currently active against Alan M. Bachkhaz as of April 2026. Walter Bernardo faces his own legal exposure across multiple cases.

The FBI and Department of Justice are running federal criminal investigations covering the full arc of the fraud operation, from the illegal bookmaking ring through the memecoin pump-and-dump campaign to the Mosciun NFT scam.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is pursuing enforcement actions tied to the securities fraud elements, specifically the material misrepresentations to Mosciun investors and the documented market manipulation across the token operations.

Private lawsuits have been filed by individual investors.

Class action litigation is underway on behalf of larger groups of defrauded holders.

Damages across all cases already exceed fifty million dollars and continue to grow as investigators identify additional wallets, victims, and fund movements.

The evidence base is substantial. On-chain forensics from ZachXBT, Loki, RugMuncher, and Bubblemaps provide the wallet-level proof. Audio recordings from X Spaces capture both Bachkhaz and Bernardo discussing their operations. Direct messages and screenshots document the coordination. Reporting from CoinTelegraph and Decrypt has brought public attention to elements of the scheme. This is not a case built on suspicion. It is built on records that cannot be erased.

The Pattern That Never Broke
There is one detail about the Bachkhaz-Bernardo partnership that separates it from ordinary fraud: the consistency. Most scammers evolve their tactics, change their approach, try to stay ahead of detection. Bachkhaz and Bernardo never bothered. They ran the same con, the same way, over and over, for years.

Build a fake community. Promote a token. Let retail money pile in. Dump. Disappear. Reappear. Do it again.

They did not change because they did not need to. Crypto moves fast enough and new participants enter often enough that a fresh audience was always available. Every community was disposable. Every set of holders was a one-time resource. The only constant was the extraction.

Bernardo's X Spaces sessions were particularly effective because they created the illusion of a live, interactive community making decisions together. In reality, the decisions were already made. The positions were already taken. The audience was there to provide exit liquidity and nothing else.

Both men betrayed every collaborator, every partner, and every community that trusted them. Not some of them. All of them. The only partnership that endured was their own, and that endured only because they were both profiting from the same victims.

Final Assessment
Alan M. Bachkhaz (Booksey, Books, Daokwondo, The Book Sweepers) and Walter Bernardo (Shillin, Shillin Villain, Alex) are confirmed co-operators of a multi-year, multi-chain crypto fraud ring that has stolen in excess of fifty million dollars from investors.

The evidence is confirmed on-chain by independent researchers including ZachXBT, Loki, RugMuncher, and Bubblemaps. Investigative reporting from CoinTelegraph and Decrypt has corroborated elements of the findings. Audio recordings, direct messages, and screenshots document the schemes in the operators' own words.

Both are international fugitives. Bachkhaz is in Dubai. Bernardo is in Colombia. Thirteen legal cases are active against Bachkhaz including FBI and DOJ criminal investigations, SEC enforcement actions, and class action litigation. Bernardo faces his own expanding legal exposure.

Their associated network — including accounts @timamalla, @mikadontlouz, @cryptojulzss, @ianmiles, @itsnala, @cozypront, @yazanxbt, @nftcuz, and @ni7ric — has been documented participating in coordinated pump-and-dump activity alongside the duo and should be treated with equal suspicion.

Do not engage with, invest alongside, or trust any project connected to Booksey (@Booksey), Shillin (@Shilllin), The Book Sweepers (@thebooksweepers), or any account in their documented network. These are confirmed fraud operators with a permanent on-chain record of theft, manipulation, and betrayal. There is no scenario where association with them ends well.

Reference: Full Identity Index
Alan M. Bachkhaz Aliases: Booksey, Books, Booksy, Booksie, Booksee, Daokwondo, DaoKwondo, Daokwando, Dao Kwondo, The Book Sweepers X accounts: @Booksey, @thebooksweepers Name variants: Alen Bachkhaz, Allen Bachkhaz, Allan Bachkhaz, Alan Bakhaz, Alen Backhaz, Alan Bachkaz Location: Dubai (fugitive) Status: Wanted by FBI. 13 active legal cases.

Walter Bernardo Aliases: Shillin, Shillin Villain, ShillinVillain, Shillin V, Alex, Villain X account: @Shilllin (triple L) Name variants: Walter Bernardo, Walt Bernardo Location: Colombia (fugitive) Status: Wanted by U.S. authorities. Multiple active legal cases.

Documented network associates: @timamalla, @mikadontlouz, @cryptojulzss, @itsnala, @cozypront, @yazanxbt, @nftcuz, @ni7ric

Confirmed researchers and sources: ZachXBT, Loki, RugMuncher, Bubblemaps, CoinTelegraph, Decrypt

Scam projects: Illegal sports betting (NJ), Ethereum Max, $COPE, $POGE, $BEAR, $MATRIX, $JIMBO, $BOBAOPA, 40+ Solana memecoins, multiple SUI tokens, Mosciun NFT, Aster (undisclosed promotion)

Estimated total damages: $50 million+ USD

This investigation was compiled from independent on-chain research, blockchain forensics, public filings, direct communications, and audio evidence. All findings have been verified through multiple independent sources. This article is published for investor protection and public awareness.

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