Crypto market maker CLS Global pleads guilty following US FBI sting operation and investigation

PANews, January 22: According to Reuters, CLS Global, a cryptocurrency financial services company headquartered in the United Arab Emirates, agreed on Tuesday to plead guilty to U.S. charges that it provided services to assist in market manipulation, involving a A digital token created at the request of the FBI to expose fraud in the cryptocurrency industry. CLS Global was one of three companies and 15 individuals indicted by federal prosecutors in Boston last year following an undercover investigation known as "Operation Token Mirrors," which marked the first time the FBI personally directed the creation of digital tokens and set up fake cryptocurrency companies to trap fraudsters. .

Prosecutors noted that CLS was one of three market makers that provided illegal trading services to cryptocurrency companies and agreed during the sting operation to help manipulate the market for the FBI-backed NexFundAI token, which runs on the Ethereum blockchain. CLS admitted in court documents that it agreed to provide services, including false trading, for NexFundAI tokens.

On Tuesday, prosecutors announced that CLS would plead guilty to two counts of fraudulent manipulation of cryptocurrency trading volumes and pay a $428,059 fine. Additionally, CLS will be prohibited from engaging in cryptocurrency trading on trading platforms available to U.S. investors or providing services to U.S. cryptocurrency clients. CLS Global also committed to annual certification of its business practices and agreed to resolve related civil charges brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).