Crypto Scheme Merits $28 Million Disgorgement, Judge Recommends

A cryptocurrency mining company and its founders, who fled to Brazil after the SEC launched an investigation, should be on the hook for more than $28 million in payments to harmed investors, plus millions in fees and interest, a magistrate judge recommended.

Luiz Carlos Capuci Jr. and Emerson Sousa Pires allegedly used their company Mining Capital Coin Corp. to sell unregistered securities that purported to give investors a stake in crypto mining operations, but then diverted those funds into their own cryptocurrency wallets, the SEC said in its April 2022 suit.

MCC and the co-founders should now pay out ...