DOJ and FinCEN Select Binance Monitors

Binance Gets Two Compliance Monitors in Settlements With U.S. Authorities

U.S. regulators have appointed two separate independent compliance monitors to ensure cryptocurrency exchange Binance meets the requirements set forth in its settlements over money-laundering and sanctions violations.

The U.S. Justice Department has chosen Frances McLeod, a founding partner at forensic consulting firm Forensic Risk Alliance, for the three-year-monitorship of Binance, according to a Binance spokesperson. The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has selected Sharon Cohen Levin, a partner at law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, to serve as its monitor for five years, the spokesperson added.

Brooklyn Man and Cryptocurrency Personality “T.J. Stone” Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud

Yesterday, in federal court in Brooklyn, Thomas John Sfraga, also known as “T.J. Stone,” pleaded guilty to an information charging him with wire fraud. The proceeding was held before Chief United States Magistrate Judge Lois Bloom. When sentenced, Sfraga faces a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment, as well as restitution of over $1.33 million.

***

“For years, Sfraga brazenly lied to friends, neighbors and investors to swindle over $1.3 million of their hard-earned life savings,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “This Office will continue to hold fraudsters accountable and achieve justice for victims throughout the Eastern District of New York and across the United States.”

As set forth in the information and court filings, from at least 2019 to 2022, Sfraga held himself out as the owner and principal of multiple businesses, including Vandelay Contracting Corp. and Build Strong Homes LLC. In the television show “Seinfeld,” the character George Constanza falsely claimed to have interviewed for a job with the fictional company Vandelay Industries. The defendant held himself out as ‘T.J. Stone,’ a serial entrepreneur with experience in real estate development, media relations, podcasting and cryptocurrencies, including acting as the host or emcee of cryptocurrency events in New York.

Trial to Begin for Ozy Founder Carlos Watson

The jury trial of Carlos Watson, who is charged with trying to defraud investors in the digital media start-up he co-founded, Ozy Media, is scheduled to begin Monday with jury selection in federal court in Brooklyn. Mr. Watson has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him. If convicted, he could face up to 37 years in prison.

It remains unclear what Mr. Watson’s defense will be when the trial begins, or whether he will take the stand. But one of the arguments his lawyer has made in court filings leading up to the trial is unusual: The allegations involve the same “puffing and bluffing” practiced by the founders of BuzzFeed and Vice, but prosecutors singled out Mr. Watson for punishment because he is a Black man.

GameStop, AMC, Roaring Kitty Is the Poster Child for Meme-Obsessed Generation T

The surge in trading by bored retail investors working from home during lockdowns may have sparked the meme stock and crypto pile-ons, but it’s been accompanied by an underlying shift in the style of personal portfolio trading. Insane volatility has had the reverse effect on Gen-Z and Millennials by encouraging them to take bigger risks, rather than fleeing from price swings like their parents. The younger gang favors more active trading in smaller sizes and across a wider set of products. Bitcoin’s price more than doubling since October is just the latest fuel driving younger investors. Back off boomers: Gen-T is doing things its own way.

Binance Head of Compliance Tigran Gambaryan’s Bail was Denied by a Nigerian Court

Gambaryan, who turned 40 on Friday, has been detained in Nigeria since February when he arrived with the British-Kenyan regional manager for Africa, Nadeem Anjarwalla. Anjarwalla has since escaped.

“I truly cannot believe that my innocent husband is now – on his 40th birthday – having to face a trial for charges that he has nothing to do with,” said Yuki Gambaryan, the wife of Tigran Gambaryan.

“The whole world is watching what he is being put through, and I just pray that common sense and justice will prevail and that Tigran will be allowed to come home to us.”

Is ESG a “Luxury Good”?

The authors then go on to observe that to date, “many boards have viewed investment in ESG as economically – or at least socially — beneficial.” However, because there has been little research by researchers that have no preferred outcome, the economic consequences of ESG “have never been rigorously demonstrated.” In the absence of this kind of evidence, and with “demand for ESG in reverse,” boards now must face the question of what changes, if any, to make to their companies’ ESG-related initiatives. In order for boards to make this assessment, “it bears considering,” the authors assert, “how investors view the ESG characteristics of firms in their portfolio.

”The authors then consider the possibility that ESG is a “luxury good” – that is, “an item whose demand increases with price.” Think of brands like Rolls Royce or Tiffany, which can command a premium for their products. Demand for these kinds of goods changes not with respect to the raising or lowering of the price of the goods, but rather with the economy: “When consumers are feeling flush, they are more likely to purchase a luxury good; when their wealth falls, demand for these specific types of good also falls.”