South African Firms Sanctioned By Two States Over Crypto Debit Card Fraud

Authorities in Texas and in Alabama have issued out emergency Cease and Desist orders against a group of South African companies. This order is due to these companies promoting a cryptocurrency credit card scheme to the public in these states.

Sanctioned By Two US States

As per the announcement made on the 14th of August by the Texas State Securities Board, as well as the Alabama Securities Commission, a Cease and Desist Order was simultaneously issued. These Orders were sent against the South African companies: Liquidity Gold Solution, Liquidity Global Card Solution, Liquidity Gold Trust. Alongside this, the order was sent against one Lance Angus Jerrard.

All aforementioned entities have been accused of fraud, doing so through the promotion of a product called Liquidity Card on a local radio station in Austin, as well as social media. It was falsely claimed that investors had a guaranteed way to make money, all the while staying home during this pandemic. According to the orders, they claimed this card was a Mastercard with all the traditional functions of a debit card.

False Promises To Entice The Desperate

To add insult to injury, it’s reported that these companies, using their radio station ad time, even claimed that these cards would help avoid taxes. This was allegedly done through the use of receiving and spending profits in the form of stablecoins, such as TrueUSD Coin (TUSD), the USD Coin (USDC), as well as the PAX Coin (PAX).

Joe Rotunda stands as the Enforcement Director at the TSSB, and explained that a guaranteed monthly income may seem like a dream come true to many within these trying times. However, he stipulated that these scams typically fail to support the promises they made of financial prosperity. Rotunda explained that this is typically just a technologically flavored act of smoke and mirrors.

Promises Of Profit

The campaign itself was set to launch in October of this year, stated the announcement. The goal of this company was to recruit 8 million in cardholders within a span of 36 months.

The scheme entailed recruiting new members, then getting them to invest a minimum of $1,150 in 1 or more of the portions within the global project partnership of Liquidity. In total, the amount of portions available were $8,400. The claim was that these investors would promptly earn residuals that would’ve been derived due to fees that cardholders of Liquidity would pay.

As is the norm, the TSSB explained that these companies claimed they would have a lucrative cash flow. The claims stated that they would receive a monthly payment of up to $1,516.72 per portion after the first 18 months. This would change to %5,008.62 a month per portion after 24 months’ time. As one would expect from this scheme, the profits were allegedly guaranteed, as well.