“Casino Jack” will have to spend more time behind bars after his failed scam was revealed
Jack Abramoff – who was played by Kevin Spacey in the 2010 movie “Casino Jack” – agreed to a guilty plea deal for pending charges related to a cryptocurrency scheme that cost investors $5 million. Federal authorities announced Thursday that the political lobbyist used a scheme called AML Bitcoin to duped investors out of their funds. Abramoff, who served more than three years in prison for being involved in the Native American casino lobbying scandal, was accused, along with Rowland Marcus Andrade, of lying to investors about the digital currency.
To lure investors, both Andrade and Abramoff said that this Bitcoin-like offering would include “biometric technologies” to prevent hacking, money laundering theft and terrorism. They also lied about the progress of the project’s development, the actual liability of the digital token, and the estimated date for its release. Andrade’s participation comes from being the CEO of the NAC Foundation group, which was the company developing the new crypto.
Besides that, these two men also lied about a supposed commercial that was going to be aired during the 2018 Super Bowl, according to prosecutors. They told investors that, because it was too politically controversial, the commercial was rejected by the NFL. However, the truth was they didn’t have the money to pay for a Super Bowl Commercial because it costs millions. Prosecutors added that Andrade lied about the process he was following with governments for the use of AML Bitcoin; he actually said that he was close to signing a deal with the Panama Canal Authority, but no negotiations ever happened.
The fraud included more than 2,400 investors who lost their investment, according to the US Security and Exchanges Commission (SEC). Combined, the fraudsters got away with $5.6 million.
