Siblings charged over mining coin that turned into alleged $124M fraud
A pair of siblings is now in very hot water with the U.S. government with criminal charges filed against them for allegedly committing fraud in the Ormeus Coin scheme.
On Mar. 8, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged siblings John Albert Loar Barksdale and sister JonAtina (Tina) Barksdale with violating federal securities laws and allegedly defrauding at least 12,000 “retail investors out of more than $124 million.” The Department of Justice (DOJ) arrested John abroad and charged him with wire fraud, securities fraud, and conspiracy.
Both of the Barksdale siblings are U.S. citizens. John, 41, was living in Thailand while JonAtina, 45, was in Honk Kong according to Reuters.
There were two Ormeus Coin (ORME) initial coin offerings (ICOs) starting in 2017. The SEC complaint specifically states that the Barksdales lied about “the size, value, and purported profitability of Ormeus Coin’s cryptocurrency mining assets.”
ORME is an ERC-20 token and a BEP-20 token found on Ethereum (ETH) and BNB Chain (BNB).
While both siblings created social media posts and videos marketing the project, only John attended traveling roadshows and conferences to promote it. Associate Director in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement Melissa Hodgman likened John to a “snake-oil salesman.” She also said both siblings used “social media, promotional websites, and in-person roadshows to mislead retail investors for their own personal benefit.”
Hodgman also reaffirmed the SEC’s position on fraudsters in the crypto industry in stating:
Both the SEC and DOJ are basing fraud charges on alleged misrepresentations the Barksdales told investors about the state of the Ormeus mining operation. The Oremus Coin website states that mining operations for
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