A Swedish citizen, arrested by US authorities in June 2019, has pleaded guilty to securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, defrauding over 3,500 victims of more than $16 million.
During 2012-19, Roger Nils-Jonas Karlsson, owner of a company called Eastern Metal Securities (EMS), was involved in an elaborate fraud scheme. The scheme involved Karlsson and EMS using the EMS official website to make fraudulent representations and convince victims to make payments via virtual currency exchange. Karlsson and EMS also used misleading devices and contrivances to sell securities. Karlsson then transferred the victims’ deposits to his personal bank accounts. He used the money to buy luxurious real estate in Thailand. Furthermore, they attempted to hide the illicit funds from the wire fraud and securities fraud.
Karlsson may get a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and at most $250,000 in financial penalty for the wire fraud and securities fraud. He may further face 20 years in prison and at most $500,000 financial penalty for money laundering.
Source: US Department of Justice