The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed suit against Rowland Marcus Andrade last week, claiming that he deceived investors during an initial coin offering (ICO) fundraiser between 2017 and 2018 for AML Bitcoin, a crypto token that was to be designed to comply with anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) regulations.
Along with Andrade, notorious DC lobbyist D. Jack Abramoff has also been indicted and has already pleaded guilty, according to Bloomberg. In an interview with the media, Andrade claimed that the allegations are false and that he is "a victim of government corruption".
"Abramoff was working with the government and tried to convince me to sell my company for $ 100 million," Andrade wrote in a @AMLBitcoin tweet. "Then they asked me to pay Abramoff $ 40 million dollars so that he could distribute the revenue," he wrote.
Andrade also said, "The United States government is now trying to create its own compliant digital currency based on my technology and they clearly see me as a threat."
$ 5,6 million raised
The SEC claimed that Andrade raised $ 5,6 million from 2.400 investors, remaining well below the $ 100 million it initially attempted to raise. About 1 million dollars of this comes from a single investor, identified by the DOJ as "Victim One".
In a court case related to a separate but ongoing case, Andrade claims that the United States government has instructed the victim. "It was the government that contacted" Victim One "and suggested that he was deceived," said Andrade.
The investor known as Victim One confirmed that he had been informed of the allegations by the FBI, but claimed that "he was a victim of fraud". He also confirmed that he was unaware of the allegations of fraud against AML Bitcoin until the FBI informed him.
"Victim of Corruption"
“The SEC and DOJ already have evidence that proves my innocence. That's why in various proceedings I have had no choice but to make the documents public, "Andrade wrote in one of the many DMs, referring to a separate and ongoing case.
"I am a victim of government corruption and will fight against it." According to the DOJ filing in March, US officials had previously deposited "a parcel of real estate" for seizure, owned at least in part by Andrade and his wife.
Andrade presented an elaborate and conspiratorial interpretation of events involving Abramoff, former U.S. representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) And Jared Kushner (son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump).
According to that interpretation, federal investigators are attempting to force Andrade to hit "bigger political targets", including Abramoff and Rohrabacher, in an attempt to somehow influence the 2020 presidential election.
