RESOLUTION
A resolution calling for a public hearing regarding the alarming number of reports that Chicago citizens fell victim to a Ponzi scheme that specifically targeted the Latino community and is linked to a US Securities and Exchange Commission investigation.
On September 19, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed an emergency action to stop an on-going fraudulent and unregistered crypto asset offering targeting Latino investors, run by defendants Mauricio Chavez and Giorgio Benvenuto through a company Chavez founded and controlled, CryptoFX, LLC. At the SEC's request, the Court issued a temporary restraining order halting the offering, as well as temporary orders freezing assets and granting other emergency relief. After a hearing on September 29, 2022, the Court also granted the SEC's motion for a receiver and extended the asset freeze.
Unfortunately, this scheme continued after the September 2022 hearing and our office has received over two-hundred complaints alleging that local satellites continued the practices of Chavez and Benvenuto, under the name Crypto FX, LLC they targeted Latino investors with promises of quick and substantial returns on their investments.
We call on the City Council to collaborate with the office of the Illinois Attorney General, Kwame Raoul, to document and forward this large-scale multi-state fraud and add them to the broader federal investigation.
We ask that this hearing be organized and take place at the earliest possible convenience for the relevant committee(s) and office(s) being called on this resolution.
U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
ENFORCEMENT REGULAR ION
ENFORCEMENT
Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Releases
SEC Halts Crypto Asset-Related Fraud Victimizing Latino Investors
Administrative Proceedings
ALJ Initial Decisions
Amicus / Friend of the Court Briefs
Delinquent Filings
Information for Harmed Investors
Litigation Releases
Opinions and Adjudicatory Orders
Receiverships
St...
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