The U.S. federal court ordered Michael Ackerman to pay over $50 million in fines for a digital asset fraud scheme

ChainCatcher News, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald for the Southern District of New York issued a permanent injunction against Michael Ackerman, prohibiting him from trading on any CFTC-regulated market and from registering with the CFTC. Ackerman is also ordered to pay $27 million in restitution to fraud victims and a $27 million civil penalty for a fraudulent digital asset trading scheme.

The CFTC stated that from August 2017 to December 2019, Ackerman defrauded over 150 individuals and entities of at least $33 million, claiming it was for digital asset trading. However, less than $10 million was used for trading digital commodity assets, with the remaining funds misappropriated for personal use or to extend the fraudulent scheme. (Source link)