6 ms·

Have you been in touch with the SEC? Their investigation is ongoing, and it sounds like you might have info that could help them clean things up…

by eqmvii 4y ago

58x14 4y ago
I haven’t reached out to them and I haven’t been contacted. There was a short window where I was super admin for their entire Google workspace, but everything was pretty cryptic and I had limited time to exfil data. I seriously contemplated going public but I started receiving death threats when I left the project, so I took the… cautious approach. Maybe now that the project is wholly sunk, I should make a YouTube video.
- snek_case 4y ago
  You have a legal responsibility to share the information you know with the SEC. Do what's right and don't be afraid of these tech bros, they're probably busy pissing their pants right now anyways.
  - fortran77 4y ago
    > Do what's right and don't be afraid of these tech bros, they're probably busy pissing their pants right now anyways. This is a good point. While I'm glad they're starting to go after celebrities who tout scams, a lot of these people are "just" reading something from a card or tweeting something in return for a check. They really need to get the folks who contracted with the celebs and told them what to say, too!
  - anonu 4y ago
    > You have a legal responsibility to share the information you know with the SEC Are you a lawyer? Don't think you're right here... Don't take legal advice from random HN threads.
  - whoknew1122 4y ago
    Do what's right, which is to protect your neck. The person doesn't really have anything of substance to add. If the person did decide to go to the SEC, here's what you'd need: 1.) A good lawyer (don't go talking to investigators without a lawyer) 2.) A sit down with the lawyer and the investigators 3.) ??? 4.) Worry if the death threats are actually meaningful A dozen crypto bros may not be too worrying. But you don't know who else got juice from the scheme. There were already unknown boxing promoters mentioned. Boxing is a dirty sport with real organized crime ties. And crypto is used to facilitate huge amounts of money laundering, which attracts criminals of all stripes. Easy for random HN commenter to say go to the SEC. In real life, there are consequences that the person just doesn't need.
- spywaregorilla 4y ago
  Why did you receive death threats?
shapefrog 4y ago
Whistleblower awards can range from 10 to 30 percent of the money collected when the monetary sanctions exceed $1 million
- nradov 4y ago
  Pretty sure the whistle has already been blown on this one. But it's always better to be treated as a cooperating witness with an immunity agreement rather than as an indicted co-conspirator. (The SEC can't bring criminal charges, but they do pass on any evidence of criminal activity to the Justice Department.)
- Nextgrid 4y ago
  Seems like there's cash to be made here - find a bullshit blockchain project (not too difficult - finding the opposite is the difficult bit), collect evidence, resign at the first sign of criminal activity, blow the whistle and enjoy a share of the resulting fine.
  - r00fus 4y ago
    This would be a great "natural selector criteria" that whittles down whatever's left of crypto scammers. Another possible benefit is the cost of doing business (by taking valid precautions) for those scammers going up.

Have you been in touch with the SEC? Their investigation is ongoing, and it sounds like you might have info that could help them clean things up…

by eqmvii 4y ago

Have you been in touch with the SEC? Their investigation is ongoing, and it sounds like you might have info that could help them clean things up…

58x14 4y ago

I haven’t reached out to them and I haven’t been contacted. There was a short window where I was super admin for their entire Google workspace, but everything was pretty cryptic and I had limited time to exfil data. I seriously contemplated going public but I started receiving death threats when I left the project, so I took the… cautious approach. Maybe now that the project is wholly sunk, I should make a YouTube video.

snek_case 4y ago
You have a legal responsibility to share the information you know with the SEC. Do what's right and don't be afraid of these tech bros, they're probably busy pissing their pants right now anyways.
- fortran77 4y ago
  > Do what's right and don't be afraid of these tech bros, they're probably busy pissing their pants right now anyways. This is a good point. While I'm glad they're starting to go after celebrities who tout scams, a lot of these people are "just" reading something from a card or tweeting something in return for a check. They really need to get the folks who contracted with the celebs and told them what to say, too!
- anonu 4y ago
  > You have a legal responsibility to share the information you know with the SEC Are you a lawyer? Don't think you're right here... Don't take legal advice from random HN threads.
- whoknew1122 4y ago
  Do what's right, which is to protect your neck. The person doesn't really have anything of substance to add. If the person did decide to go to the SEC, here's what you'd need: 1.) A good lawyer (don't go talking to investigators without a lawyer) 2.) A sit down with the lawyer and the investigators 3.) ??? 4.) Worry if the death threats are actually meaningful A dozen crypto bros may not be too worrying. But you don't know who else got juice from the scheme. There were already unknown boxing promoters mentioned. Boxing is a dirty sport with real organized crime ties. And crypto is used to facilitate huge amounts of money laundering, which attracts criminals of all stripes. Easy for random HN commenter to say go to the SEC. In real life, there are consequences that the person just doesn't need.
spywaregorilla 4y ago
Why did you receive death threats?

shapefrog 4y ago

Whistleblower awards can range from 10 to 30 percent of the money collected when the monetary sanctions exceed $1 million

nradov 4y ago
Pretty sure the whistle has already been blown on this one. But it's always better to be treated as a cooperating witness with an immunity agreement rather than as an indicted co-conspirator. (The SEC can't bring criminal charges, but they do pass on any evidence of criminal activity to the Justice Department.)
Nextgrid 4y ago
Seems like there's cash to be made here - find a bullshit blockchain project (not too difficult - finding the opposite is the difficult bit), collect evidence, resign at the first sign of criminal activity, blow the whistle and enjoy a share of the resulting fine.
- r00fus 4y ago
  This would be a great "natural selector criteria" that whittles down whatever's left of crypto scammers. Another possible benefit is the cost of doing business (by taking valid precautions) for those scammers going up.