On Thursday, July 21, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York charged three Coinbase Global executives with insider trading.
Prosecutor Damian Williams said Ishan Wahi, his brother Nikhil Wahi and Sameer Ramani colluded and used Coinbase’s confidential information about the future token listing for profit. The charges carry a sentence of 20 years in prison:
“The allegations are another reminder that Web3 is not a law-free zone. Just last month, I announced the first ever insider trading case involving NFTs, and today I am announcing the first ever insider trading case involving the cryptocurrency markets. Our message is clear: fraud is fraud, whether it occurs on the blockchain or on Wall Street,” explained Damian Williams.
U.S. Attorney’s Office believes the Wahi brothers attempted to flee to India ahead of a scheduled interview with Coinbase’s security team. However, law enforcement intervened and did not allow the brothers to escape. They were detained on the morning of Thursday, July 21, 2022, at the Seattle airport.
In June, Nathaniel Chastain, a former top manager of the OpenSea trading platform, was charged by a court with wire fraud and money laundering from an insider trading scheme he implemented in non-fungible tokens. On the totality of the charges, he faces up to 40 years in prison.
Source: Bits
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