A pastor from the state of Colorado and his wife have been accused of defrauding their investors out of US$3.2 million (~RM15.1 million) by selling them a worthless cryptocurrency called INDXcoin. And their reason for pulling a blanket over their head is the most magnanimous of all excuses: God made him do it.
The pastor, Eli Regalado, announced via YouTube channel that he would begin selling his cryptocurrency, INDXcoin, back in April of last year, and even said that God was backing his project and that he was “setting the rails for God’s wealth transfer”. Like all marketing pitches, Regalado said that his coin was valued between US$10 (~RM47.3) and US$12 (~RM56.8) at the time.
Despite Colorado state regulators declaring that INDXcoin was “essentially worthless”, the company pastor and his wife managed to raise the earlier mentioned US$3.2 million robbing their investors, and spent at least US$1.3 million (~RM6.15 million) of that money, mostly on vacations, luxury goods, and along with other quality of life purchases. Of course, being a leader of congregation, they also spent close to US$300,000 (~RM1.4 million) on their online-only church, Victoria Grace Charge.
What is even more amazing, though, is the Regalado seemed unfazed and unrepentant of his con. believing firmly that his actions of creating INDXcoin were some form of divine mandate, and even trying to own the narrative. “The charges are that Kaitlyn and I pocketed 1.3 million dollars, and I just want to come out and say that those charges are true,” he said in a video statement a few days after the civil charges were filed. “A few hundred thousand dollars went to a home remodel that the Lord told us to do.”
Regalado is currently facing civil fraud charges in Colorado for the alleged violations of anti-fraud, licensing, and registration provisions.
(Source: Techspot)
