SEC officials do not know the whereabouts of Satish Kumbhani, the founder of crypto trading platform BitConnect, who was charged last week with defrauding investors of $2.4 billion in a Ponzi scheme. This puts the SEC in quite a bind, since they have to serve the 36-year old entrepreneur with his court papers. In a court filing from Monday, the SEC stated that they did not have an address for Kumbhani, an Indian citizen, and suspected that he likely fled to another country. 

The DOJ is charging Kumbhani with a number of offenses, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodity price manipulation and conspiracy to commit international money laundering.

“Kumbhani’s location remains unknown, and the Commission remains unable to state when its efforts to locate him will be successful, if at all," wrote the SEC in its filing.

In order to buy some time, the SEC is asking the US District Court for the Southern District of New York for an extension of 90 days. Since BitConnect is an unincorporated entity and not a formal corporation, all court papers have to be served to Kumbhani himself.

First founded in 2016, BitConnect attracted a lot of attention on social media for its “Lending Program” which allowed users to lend their Bitcoin in exchange for a propriety Bitconnect cryptocoin. The program claimed it could guarantee returns by using investors’ money to trade on the volatility of the cryptocurrency markets." 

“Under this program, Kumbhani and his co-conspirators touted BitConnect’s purported proprietary technology, known as the 'BitConnect Trading Bot' and 'Volatility Software', as being able to generate substantial profits and guaranteed returns by using investors’ money to trade on the volatility of cryptocurrency exchange markets. As alleged in the indictment, however, BitConnect operated as a Ponzi scheme by paying earlier BitConnect investors with money from later investors,” wrote the DOJ’s Office of Public Affairs in a press release.

After years of crypto existing in a legally murky universe, U.S. government officials are cracking down on cryptocurrency fraud and scams at an increasing rate. Last year, the DOJ launched a national cryptocurrency enforcement team to handle complex cryptocurrency investigations, and recently appointed veteran cybersecurity prosecutor Eun Young Choi as its director.

BitConnect is just one of many cryptocurrency schemes that law enforcement has pinned down in recent months. The founders of BitMex, a crypto derivatives exchange, plead guilty to skirting anti-laundering laws in the US and were ordered to pay $20 million in fines. Earlier this month, the DOJ arrested Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan, two entrepreneurs who allegedly attempted to launder more than 25,000 Bitcoins stolen from the 2016 Bitfinex hack.

The California State Bar is investigating a potential data breach after finding that a public website published confidential information related to approximately 260,000 attorney discipline cases. Over the weekend, the bar said it learned of the exposure after finding the files on a website that aggregates public case records. According to the organization, the website displayed information related to case numbers, file dates, case status as well as respondent and complaining witness names. As of Saturday evening, the bar said all the leaked information had been removed from the website.

State Bar officials don’t know if someone obtained the information by hacking. The organization has tasked the provider of its Odyssey case management system to investigate the incident. It has also notified law enforcement and hired a team of forensic experts to aid with the investigation. “The State Bar deeply apologizes to anyone impacted by this breach,” the organization said. “We are doing everything in our power to get to the bottom of it and prevent any future harms.”

With Amazon's Staten Island warehouse facing a vote to unionize next month, police have arrested labor organizer Christian Smalls at the facility for allegedly trespassing, Reuters has reported. Two other individuals that reportedly worked at the facility were also arrested, and Smalls was charged with resisting arrest and trespassing. 

A former employee, Smalls said that he was "literally a visitor" delivering food to other employees, and that Amazon was trying to "increase the intimidation factor" via his arrest. Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel told Reuters that Smalls "has repeatedly trespassed despite multiple warnings." 

The three arrests were captured on video by Motherboard, which reported that the NYPD handcuffed the organizers who wore bright red shirts with the slogans "Amazon Labor Union." Smalls was fired in March 2020 after he led a protest outside the warehouse demanding better safety and health protections. 

A vote to unionize the Staten Island facility is set to start on March 25th, and a successful one would make it the first union Amazon warehouse. Another vote is set to be counted next month from the same Alabama warehouse that voted against unionizing. 

After the first Alabama vote, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) organizing it accused Amazon of violating the National Labor Relations Act. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) agreed and ordered a second vote in early February, with counting to start on March 28th. 

Before he was apprehended by Amsterdam police, the suspect involved in Tuesday’s Apple Store hostage situation demanded a €200 million (approximately $226 million) ransom paid in cryptocurrencies, Reuters reported on Wednesday. Police say they have yet to establish a motive for the 27-year-old gunman, whose identity they didn’t share. What we know is that he was a resident of the city and had a criminal record before the event. He was also carrying explosives on his person at the time of his arrest. 

The gunman was apprehended after his hostage fled the building when a police robot delivered water to the front of the store. Police used a squad car to knock him down, causing him serious injuries. On Wednesday, he died of the injuries he sustained in his arrest. "The hostage played a heroic role by forcing a breakthrough," according to Amsterdam police chief Frank Pauw. "He acted in a split-second. Had he not done that, we could have been in for a long, nasty night."

According to Engadget’s research, Wednesday’s incident wasn’t the first time someone demanded a ransom paid in cryptocurrency to end a hostage situation. In 2017, kidnappers in Ukraine released an employee from a cryptocurrency exchange after their demand for a ransom paid in Bitcoin (valued at $1 million at the time) was met.

The union that wants to represent workers at Amazon’s BHM1 facility in Bessemer, Alabama is accusing the company of once again violating the National Labor Relations Act. In an email the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) sent Tuesday, it said it would file Unfair Labor Practice charges against the retailer.

Specifically, the organization alleges Amazon broke the law by removing pro-union posters put up by members of BAmazon, and implementing a new rule that limits the amount of time workers can spend inside the facility to 30 minutes before and after their shift. Additionally, the RWDSU alleges Amazon forced workers to attend anti-union meetings. If the NLRB finds Amazon’s actions violated the law, the union could then challenge the result of the ongoing second election at BHM1. That vote is currently scheduled to conclude on March 28th.

“While we haven’t seen today’s filing yet, we’re confident that our teams have fully complied with the law. Our focus remains on working directly with our team to make Amazon a great place to work," Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel told Engadget.

Last April, BHM1 became the first large Amazon facility in the US to hold a union vote. While workers there voted decisively against forming a union, the RWDSU went on to successfully challenge the vote. The NLRB ruled the company had illegally interfered with the vote and called for a rerun of the election to be held. Whether Amazon wins or loses the second election at Bessemer, it could be months before the NLRB makes a decision on the latest allegations from the RWDSU. That could set the stage for a protracted labor battle at the facility. 

An Amazon union avoidance officer has reportedly told workers at the company's JFK8 warehouse that there's a possibility they could get lower pay than what they're currently getting if they unionize. Motherboard has obtained an audio recording of a mandatory anti-union meeting that happened on Wednesday, wherein the officer could be heard describing the collective bargaining process. "The negotiation phase of the process is called collective bargaining, and in the negotiation, there are no guarantees. You can end up with better, the same, or worse than you already have," the officer said. 

An employee then cuts in and asks what they mean that workers could end up with worse, and the officer responds that there are no guarantees what would happen: "We can't promise what's going to happen. Amazon can't promise you that they're going to walk into negotiations and that the negotiations will start from the same [pay and benefits workers have already]. They could start from minimum wage for instance. I don't think that will happen, but it's a possibility." 

"So you're saying that Amazon’s gonna say..." the worker said, to which the officer responded: "I just said I'm not saying that." When the worker asked "So why put that out there?," the officer completely changed the topic. In addition, the officer also talked about how workers will be liable to pay union dues if they unionize and that there's no limit to how much they could be charged in New York. The election will have "significant and binding consequences not just for yourselves but for future associates, your coworkers, and potentially for your family," they warned. 

Frank Kearl, the lawyer representing workers at JFK8, told Motherboard:

"The [union avoidance consultant] makes the threat and tries to walk it back but once you’ve poisoned the well you can’t take it back. Even though she realized she made a mistake in making the threat, it doesn’t mean the threat wasn’t made and heard by all the workers who were forced to sit in on that session. It's against the law and an unfair labor practice to make a threat of reprisal.”

The National Labor Relations Board had previously accused Amazon of threatening, surveilling and interrogating workers at its JFK8 warehouse to discourage them from unionizing. A union avoidance consultant reportedly told them back then that organizing at the warehouse would fail anyway, because the organizers were "thugs." Amazon denied the allegations. 

The Amazon Labor Union, which is an independent group seeking to represent workers in the company, successfully collected enough signatures at JFK8 in its second attempt to unionize. Amazon and the ALU have reached an agreement to hold an in-person union vote at the facility between March 25th and March 30th. 

Amazon workers at a warehouse on Staten Island in New York will hold a union vote next month. Derrick Palmer of the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), an independent group that's seeking to represent workers at JFK8, says the election will take place in person between March 25th and March 30th.

The workers refiled a union petition with the National Labor Relations Board in December after failing to obtain enough signatures in their previous attempt. This time around, the workers reached the union vote threshold, which is usually 30 percent of a workforce. More than 5,000 workers are employed at JFK8.

The NLRB has accused Amazon of threatening, surveilling and interrogating workers at JFK8 to dissuade them from unionizing. A union avoidance consultant reportedly called organizers "thugs" and said the union drive would fail.

Earlier this month, workers at another Staten Island warehouse called LDJ5 filed a petition with the NLRB to unionize with the help of the ALU.

Another union vote is taking place at a facility in Bessemer, Alabama. The NLRB ordered a second election at BHM1 after it determined Amazon interfered in the first vote, in which a majority of employees voted against unionization. Votes will be counted starting on March 28th. Last month, a union supporter at the warehouse accused Amazon of retaliating against him.

Engadget has contacted Amazon for comment.

The non-fungible token market is full of shady dealings, and British authorities hope to clean them up. BBC Newsreports HM Revenue and Customs has seized three NFTs as part of investigation into potential tax fraud. The suspects allegedly used 250 fake companies, false identities, prepaid phones, VPNs and other techniques to hide themselves as they sought to defraud the UK tax office of £1.4 million (nearly $1.9 million).

HMRC obtained a court order to take the unvalued NFTs as well as crypto assets worth roughly £5,000 ($6,760). This is the first time UK law enforcement has seized NFTs, the authority said.

The investigation is still ongoing. However, economic crime deputy director Nick Sharp believed the seizures would "serve as a warning" to other would-be crypto fraud perpetrators.

The lack of regulations and other protections around NFTs has led to significant problems with fraud and scams, including self-sales to boost prices (aka wash trading) and fake or plagiarized tokens. Cent recently halted most transactions due to "rampant" sales of bogus tokens, while marketplace giant OpenSea has been scrambling to develop safeguards after 80 percent of NFTs minted through a free tool were discovered to be fakes, copies or spam. Don't be surprised if there are more seizures like this one, at least until NFT marketplace owners have more ways to discourage fraud and other harmful activities.

Netflix is making a docuseries about one of the worst rappers of all time. Coincidentally, Heather "Razzlekhan" Morgan and her husband, Ilya Lichtenstein, were charged this week with conspiring to launder 119,754 bitcoin, which was stolen in the 2016 hack of crypto exchange Bitfinex.

At the time of the theft, the stolen cryptocurrency was worth around $63.7 million. Now, it's worth over $5 billion. Lichtenstein and Morgan allegedly laundered around 25,000 bitcoin, which is worth $1.08 billion today, by using phony identities and various accounts to buy gold and NFTs. If they're convinced, Lichtenstein and Morgan face up to 25 years in prison.

Following search warrants, special agents obtained access to an account controlled by Lichtenstein. It contained the keys to a wallet that held more than 94,000 bitcoin that was stolen from Bitfinex. The special agents seized that digital currency, which was worth over $3.6 billion earlier this week.

It was the Department of Justice's largest financial seizure ever. Netflix echoed that sentiment in its announcement, calling it “the biggest financial crime case in history.”

The streaming service, which has put the project in motion in near record time, has tapped Chris Smith to direct the docuseries. Smith has worked on several projects based on high-profile scams and crimes. He directed a Netflix documentary about the infamous Fyre Festival, as well as a docuseries about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Both are compelling watches and it's not hard to imagine Smith being able to spin another fascinating true-crime yarn out of this particular case.

A US federal court has sentenced Canadian hacker Doug Bowser to 40 months in prison for his involvement in Switch hacking group Team Xecuter, the Department of Justice announced on Thursday. Not to be confused with Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser (or Mario’s nemesis, for that matter), Bowser was part of a collective that developed and sold devices people could use to play pirated games on their consoles.

The FBI arrested Bowser in 2020. One year later, he agreed to pay $10 million to Nintendo to settle a civil privacy lawsuit and another $4.5 million in restitution to the company. Leading up to today’s sentencing announcement, Bowser faced up to 10 years in prison. According to the Justice Department, video game publishers have lost more than $65 million thanks to Team Xecuter’s exploits. Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI are still working to apprehend Bowser’s accomplices.