The United States has charged a Canadian man with running a cryptocurrency investment scam on Discord, involving more than $42 million.

According to Odaily, U.S. federal prosecutors have charged Canadian citizen Nathan Gauvin with operating a fraudulent investment scheme on the Discord platform, claiming to raise funds to invest in traditional finance and the crypto market, with the actual amount raised exceeding $42 million. The indictment alleges that most of the funds were used to pay for withdrawals by previous investors, purchase luxury goods, and repay personal credit cards. Furthermore, he allegedly falsified documents with a fintech company to obtain approximately $800,000 in credit for personal consumption.

Investigations revealed that between May 2022 and October 2024, Gauvin and his associates directed investors to invest in Gray Digital Capital Management Inc. and its product Gray Fund, fabricating their professional qualifications, performance, and asset size, and even showing investors forged statements, claiming that the fund's return rate was as high as 4384%.

Gauvin was arrested in the UK on Wednesday. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also filed securities fraud charges, noting that he submitted false documents to the SEC during the regulatory investigation. (Bloomberg)