According to NBC News, a Colorado pastor is accused of defrauding his congregation of millions of dollars using a cryptocurrency scam in order to finance an opulent lifestyle. Additionally, Eli Regalado acknowledges to his fans in a video that he and his wife Kaitlyn did, in fact, profit $1.3 million from the endeavor. He said, "I just wanted to come out and say those charges are true," according to the Guardian.
"A few hundred thousand dollars went to a home remodel the Lord told us to do." The Regalados reportedly used the money on an au pair, expensive trips, jewelry, a Range Rover, and designer purses in addition to remodeling their house. The Victorious Grace church, which is accessible solely online, reportedly received almost $300,000.
According to a press release, prosecutors claim that Regalado and his spouse gathered more than $3 million from around 300 followers who took his advise and invested in INDXcoin. Although Regalado informed investors that God had promised them all money, he now concedes that the cryptocurrency exchange has failed. Regalado said, "The Lord said: I want you to build this." "We took God at his word and sold a cryptocurrency with no clear exit."
In contrast, Tung Chan, the commissioner of securities for Colorado, claims that the pastor "took advantage of the trust and faith of his own Christian community and that he peddled outlandish promises of wealth to them when he sold them essentially worthless cryptocurrencies."
The agency claims that despite a third-party auditor's assessment of the currency as fundamentally unsafe and unsound, the pair persisted in marketing it despite having no prior expertise with cryptocurrencies. According to the pastor's video, "Either I misheard God, and every one of you who prayed and came in—you as well," "Or two, God is still not done with this project." There are civil fraud allegations against the Regalados.
"A few hundred thousand dollars went to a home remodel the Lord told us to do." The Regalados reportedly used the money on an au pair, expensive trips, jewelry, a Range Rover, and designer purses in addition to remodeling their house. The Victorious Grace church, which is accessible solely online, reportedly received almost $300,000.
According to a press release, prosecutors claim that Regalado and his spouse gathered more than $3 million from around 300 followers who took his advise and invested in INDXcoin. Although Regalado informed investors that God had promised them all money, he now concedes that the cryptocurrency exchange has failed. Regalado said, "The Lord said: I want you to build this." "We took God at his word and sold a cryptocurrency with no clear exit."
In contrast, Tung Chan, the commissioner of securities for Colorado, claims that the pastor "took advantage of the trust and faith of his own Christian community and that he peddled outlandish promises of wealth to them when he sold them essentially worthless cryptocurrencies."
The agency claims that despite a third-party auditor's assessment of the currency as fundamentally unsafe and unsound, the pair persisted in marketing it despite having no prior expertise with cryptocurrencies. According to the pastor's video, "Either I misheard God, and every one of you who prayed and came in—you as well," "Or two, God is still not done with this project." There are civil fraud allegations against the Regalados.
