The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed charges against multiple companies for their alleged involvement in an elaborate cryptocurrency scam that swindled more than $14 million from retail investors.
The complaint charged crypto asset trading platforms Morocoin Tech Corp., Berge Blockchain Technology Co., Ltd., and Cirkor Inc., as well as investment clubs AI Wealth Inc., Lane Wealth Inc., AI Investment Education Foundation (AIIEF) Ltd., and Zenith Asset Tech Foundation, in connection with the operation.
The SEC said the scam unfolded as a multi-step fraud that enticed unsuspecting users with ads on social media and built trust with them through group chats in which the scammers posed as financial professionals and promised returns from artificial intelligence (AI)-generated investment tips.
The fraudsters then convinced the victims to invest their funds into fake cryptocurrency asset trading platforms, only to defraud them later.
According to the SEC, AI Wealth, Lane Wealth, AIIEF, and Zenith operated investment clubs on messaging apps like WhatsApp to which retail investors were lured into joining via ads on social media. While AI Wealth and Lane Wealth operated their WhatsApp groups from at least January 2024 to June 2024, AIIEF and Zenith ran from at least July 2024 to January 2025.
The complaint alleges an unnamed individual based in Beijing, China, paid for the registrations of AI Wealth, Lane Wealth, and Zenith. The details of the cryptocurrency platforms are as follows –
- Morocoin Tech Corp. – Established around December 2023 and accessible at h5.morocoin[.]top (Currently delinquent)
- Berge Blockchain Technology Co., Ltd. – Established around June 2022 and accessible at www.bergev[.]org (Currently delinquent)
- Cirkor Inc. – Established around May 2024 and accessible at www.cirkortrading[.]com (Administratively dissolved in October 2025)
Each of these clubs included a “professor” who sent updates to investors via WhatsApp on macroeconomic conditions or commentary on stocks and an “assistant” who handled day-to-day interactions with participants. These personas also send trade recommendations that they falsely claimed were based on AI-generated “signals.”
“The clubs gained investors’ confidence with supposedly AI-generated investment tips before luring investors to open and fund accounts on purported crypto asset trading platforms Morocoin, Berge, and Cirkor, which falsely claimed to have government licenses, as alleged,” the SEC said.
“The investment clubs and platforms then allegedly offered ‘Security Token Offerings’ that were purportedly issued by legitimate businesses. In reality, no trading took place on the trading platforms, which were fake, and the Security Token Offerings and their purported issuing companies did not exist.”
The AI Wealth and Lane Wealth WhatsApp groups are said to have promoted an STO of a cryptocurrency asset called SCT, purportedly issued by the company SatCommTech. Likewise, the AIIEF and Zenith WhatsApp groups advertised an STO of another crypto asset called HMB that was issued by HumanBlock. Both SatCommTech and HumanBlock have been identified as fictitious.
To make matters worse, when investors attempted to withdraw their funds, the bogus platforms defrauded them a second time by demanding that they pay advance fees to gain access to money in their accounts. In the end, the platforms cut off investors’ access to their services.
The ill-gotten proceeds, totaling at least $14 million, were moved overseas through a web of bank accounts and crypto asset wallets, in some cases through accounts held by Chinese or Burmese individuals located in Southeast Asia. Of the total misappropriated funds, cryptocurrency assets account for at least $7.4 million, and fiat currency accounts for $6.6 million.
In one case, a Morocoin investor made seven separate wires amounting to more than $1 million to accounts in China and Hong Kong. In another, a Cirkor investor wired over $1.4 million to a bank in Indonesia. There have also been multiple reports on Reddit about individuals losing their money to the scam, with the AIIEF flagged for using names like “Richard Dill” and “Daisy Akemi” for professors and assistants.
The defendants have been charged with violating the anti-fraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. In addition, the SEC is seeking permanent injunctions and civil penalties, along with the repayment of the money with prejudgment interest.
“This matter highlights an all-too-common form of investment scam that is being used to target U.S. retail investors with devastating consequences,” said Laura D’Allaird, Chief of the Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit. “Fraud is fraud, and we will vigorously pursue securities fraud that harms retail investors.”
