A cryptocurrency investment fraud case, tied to associates of former US President Donald Trump and the fintech firm MoonPay, was briefly unavailable for public examination.
Acting US Attorney Jeanine Pirro attributed the temporary concealment to an inadvertent procedural error by court personnel, clarifying it was not at the request of prosecutors.
Speaking with NOTUS on July 22, Pirro stated the clerk’s office made an unintentional mistake which led to the temporary sealing of the court record. The full docket was restored to public access within hours of the error being detected.
Did you know?
Subscribe – We publish new crypto explainer videos every week!
What Are Oracles in Crypto? (Beginner Friendly Animation)
She further clarified that court officials confirmed the Justice Department did not request the entire case file be sealed.
The legal action centers around a Nigerian citizen accused of fraudulently obtaining $250,000 by impersonating Steve Witkoff, a property magnate who formerly co-led the Trump-Vance Inauguration Committee.
The fraudulent scheme originated on Christmas Eve 2024, when the alleged perpetrator employed a deceptive email address closely resembling a legitimate one, substituting a lowercase “l” for a lowercase “i” in the domain. Unsuspecting individuals were deceived into transferring 250,300 USDT
According to a NOTUS report, the victims appear to be prominent executives at MoonPay, a cryptocurrency company with links to business dealings associated with former President Trump.
The original legal filing mentioned only the first names “Ivan” and “Mouna”, derived from partially obscured email addresses, corresponding to MoonPay’s CEO Ivan Soto-Wright and CFO Mouna Ammari Siala, respectively. Furthermore, one of the cryptocurrency wallet addresses implicated in the fraud has been linked to Soto-Wright.
Pirro clarified that prosecutors only sought to initially seal the original version of the legal complaint, intending to replace it with a revised document that omitted the identity of a specific corporation.
In related news, US authorities have formally ended their investigation into Jesse Powell, co-founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken
$574.73M
. For more details on Powell’s reaction, read the complete account.
Having completed a Master’s degree in Economics, Politics, and Cultures of the East Asia region, Aaron has written scientific papers analyzing the differences between Western and Collective forms of capitalism in the post-World War II era.
With close to a decade of experience in the FinTech industry, Aaron understands all of the biggest issues and struggles that crypto enthusiasts face. He’s a passionate analyst who is concerned with data-driven and fact-based content, as well as that which speaks to both Web3 natives and industry newcomers.
Aaron is the go-to person for everything and anything related to digital currencies. With a huge passion for blockchain & Web3 education, Aaron strives to transform the space as we know it, and make it more approachable to complete beginners.
Aaron has been quoted by multiple established outlets, and is a published author himself. Even during his free time, he enjoys researching the market trends, and looking for the next supernova.