By CCN: On Thursday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil injunctive action against the operator of an alleged pyramid scheme that raised $26 million from investors.
The defendant in the case is Daniel Pacheco, 45, a resident of San Clemente, California who has been charged by the SEC with selling unregistered securities as well as operating a multimillion-dollar cryptocurrency pyramid scheme.
E-commerce lessons and redeemable crypto points
Between Jan. 2017 and Mar. 2018, Pacheco sold unregistered securities through the California-based companies he controls, IPro Solutions LLC and IPro Network LLC, the SEC stated in the press release.
Pacheco raised over $26.5 million from US investors through the sale of “IPro Packages” that consisted of e-commerce lessons on how to make profits with an online store as well as providing its customers with a recruitment-based compensation plan and the ability to convert points into IPro’s own ‘cryptocurrency’, Pro Currency.
IPro members could gain crypto-redeemable points either as a rebate for package purchases or by recruiting others to IPro.
The investment scheme allegedly has all the features and trappings of a multi-level pyramid sham. | Source: Shutterstock
Pacheco told IPro investors that his company would create an ecosystem where Pro Currency would be used for e-commerce transactions, which would provide a value for the cryptocurrency in the long term.