Three men in the US suspected of fraud for 722 million dollars in kryptovaluta in a high-tech pyramid schemes.

Three men have been arrested in the UNITED states, in a case of fraud of 722 million u.s. dollars in kryptovaluta. According to authorities, the three men defrauded thousands of victims in the period from april 2014 to december 2019.

This was stated by the us department of justice on Tuesday.

A 37-year-old man from Lafayette, Colorado, a 38-year-old man from Arvada, Colorado, and a 49-year-old man from Camarillo, California, is accused to have offered and sold unregistered securities.

The two youngest men are also accused of having committed fraud with electronic transfers.

state attorney Craig Carpenito describes the alleged fraud as a "modern, high-tech pyramid scheme", amounting to eur 722 million u.s. dollars.

This is equivalent to over 5.2 billion dollars.

Two other suspects in the case remain at large.

- Those who have been arrested today, accused of using complicated tactics in order to lure thousands of victims with promises of huge returns on their investment in bitcoin fraud, says Paul Delacourt from the federal police (FBI) in Los Angeles.

- The defendants earned supposedly hundreds of millions of dollars to continue to recruit new investors over several years, while the ødslede the victims ' money away.

The accused drive BitClub Network that supplied false and misleading figures in exchange for money, informs Paul Delacourt.

court Documents show that the 37-year-old man who is charged in the case, have referred to investors as "stupid". He should also have said that he had "built the whole business up on the idiots".

the Penalty for the three men is up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to 250,000 dollar.

/ritzau/dpa