The inventor of cryptocurrency AriseCoin was sentenced today to five years in federal prison for duping investors out of more than $4 million, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Prerak Shah.
AriseBank CEO Jared Rice, Sr. – who settled a civil action involving AriseCoin filed by the SEC’s Fort Worth regional office last year – pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud in March 2019. He was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade, who ordered him to pay $4,258,073 in restitution.
According to his plea papers, Mr. Rice, 33, admitted he lied to would-be investors, claiming that AriseBank – billed as the world’s “first decentralized banking platform” based on the proprietary digital currency AriseCoin – could offer consumers FDIC-insured accounts and traditional banking services, including Visa-brand credit cards, in addition to cryptocurrency services. In actuality, AriseBank had not been authorized to conduct banking in Texas, was not FDIC insured, and did not have any sort of partnership with Visa.
Even as he touted AriseBank’s nonexistent benefits, Mr. Rice quietly converted investor funds for his own personal use, spending the money on hotels, food, transportation, a family law attorney, and even a guardian ad litem – facts he failed to disclose to investors. He also failed to disclose that he’d plead guilty to state felony charges in connection with a prior internet-related business scheme.
Meanwhile, hundreds of investors bought approximately $4,250,000 in AriseCoin using digital currencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin, as well as fiat currency.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mary Walters, Sid Mody, and Erica Hilliard prosecuted the case.
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