Crypto

Eight companies, one name, and the pipe that kept the money moving

Federal prosecutors allege Benjamin Paul Wiener built eight companies to move roughly $20 million from dozens of investors through a loop that looked like returns and worked like a pump. This is what the pipe looked like from the chair of someone who wired in.

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Pump & Dump

The label said OEM. The part inside the crate did not.

A federal grand jury in Knoxville says four men ran military parts through a laundry of fake labels and altered paperwork, then split the profit. The label was the whole trick.

Ponzi / Pyramid

The phone rang at 7:14 in the morning and her grandson was crying.

A transnational call-center operation allegedly turned the oldest human instinct, the urge to protect a grandchild, into a script. The runners drove Ubers. The closers wore suits no one ever saw.

Crypto

The call came from support. The support did not exist.

Federal prosecutors say a 19-year-old Canadian on an expired visa and his 28-year-old Miami co-defendant ran a $13M crypto theft operation built on phone calls. The crime scene was not a smart contract. It was a voice on the other end of the line.

The Daily Brief

The goddess promised the blockchain could not steal. The smart contract was the theft.

Elena Ruiz · May 13

The marketplace died in 2019. The wallet woke up in 2022.

Mark Tell · May 13

The delivery man at the door was the last private moment of his life

Nico Reyes · May 12
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See the pitch they're running today.

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