Bloomfield Woman Guilty In $25M Blockchain Fraud: Feds
BLOOMFIELD, NJ – A Bloomfield woman has admitted her role in a blockchain-related scheme that extorted investors for $25 million in cash and cryptocurrency, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Edith Pardo, 70, of Bloomfield, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, three counts of wire fraud and one count of securities fraud in connection with a blockchain technology company.
Subscribe
The US Attorney’s Office released the following statement on the case:
“Through CG Blockchain Inc. and BCT Inc., Pardo and her co-defendant, Boaz Manor, pitched a product called ComplianceGuard, which allegedly provided hedge funds with a blockchain-based auditing tool. Prior to starting these entities, Manor was convicted and served a prison sentence in Canada for crimes stemming from his former role as a hedge fund manager. While raising money for these new entities, Pardo Manor—who changed his appearance and used aliases—helped hide his true identity and criminal past from investors.”
The prosecutor continued:
“Pardo acted as the face of the entities and, together with Manor, told potential investors that [she] was independently wealthy and provided millions of dollars in seed money, when in fact she was neither wealthy nor an investor. Pardo and Manor also falsely claimed that: Pardo was the sole owner of the units; ‘Shaun MacDonald’ (one of Manor’s aliases) was only a consultant; a team of well-qualified managers ran the units; and several hedge funds paid millions of dollars in fees to use ComplianceGuard. In reality, the entities had no real leaders, charged no fees, and ComplianceGuard was barely deployed or used.”
In 2017, Pardo and Manor relied on many of the same misrepresentations to raise over $25 million through an initial coin offering, or ICO, for a new product called Blockchain Terminal that allegedly allowed hedge funds and financial institutions to trade and manage cryptocurrency. But after investors began learning about Manor’s true identity and criminal past, Manor admitted to hiding that information to avoid ruining his new companies, prosecutors said.
Manor is currently on the run, authorities said.
The conspiracy and wire fraud charges in the indictment against Pardo carry a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. The securities fraud counts carry a potential sentence of 20 years in prison and a $5 million fine, prosecutors said.
Sentencing is scheduled for 1 August.
Send local news tips and patch requests to [email protected]. Learn how to post announcements or events on your local Patch site.
