4 ms·

SEC forgives three scammers who bilked Americans out of millions

160 points by petethomas 1y ago

cyanydeez 1y ago
Someones gotta power the emergent grift growth market
bix6 1y ago
Disgusting.
tickerticker 1y ago
Hope this doesn't set any kind of legal precedent.
- andrewstuart2 1y ago
  I'm not sure legal precedent is much of a concern for this administration.
- frogperson 1y ago
  Do you really think laws still matter? Thats an honest question, not rhetorical. We've seen over and over that laws are applied selectively to reward the in group and punish the out group.
prawn 1y ago
"Among the swindlers are Devon Archer, Trevor Milton and Carlos Watson, a trio of scammers who bilked Americans out of more than three quarters of a billion dollars." "Archer was Hunter Biden's business partner. After he was caught in his investment scam, he helped prosecutors and congressional Republicans go after President Joe Biden's son." "Milton is a multimillion-dollar donor to the 2024 Trump presidential campaign and had the wisdom to hire Brad Bondi, the brother of previous Trump lawyer, now-Attorney General Pam Bondi." "Watson has ties to Trump pardon czar Alice Marie Johnson, recipient of a previous Trump pardon." Feels like now more than ever, scammers should be made an example of?
- JKCalhoun 1y ago
  They kind of are. Well, not the kind of example you would want.
- thisisit 1y ago
  Coffeezilla on YouTube has been covering actions of SEC and other agencies in this administration. Lot of crypto and other scams are being forgiven especially if they have contributed to or somehow related to POTUS. In that small corner of the Internet there is a running meme - Crime is legal under this administration.
  - roncesvalles 1y ago
    I mean, with all the TikTok ban extensions that are in no way supported by the ban bill, crime is literally legal now. The law is literally in a state of suspension.
pwarner 1y ago
The market should fix this, but it doesn't appear to be holding these folks to account.
- rimbo789 1y ago
  Markets are very bad at holding people to account for anything So is this administration. But markets are also bad at it
- xnx 1y ago
  The market? Historically this would be more of a mob justice situation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungle_justice https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungle_justice
- LocalH 1y ago
  The market only cares about what makes number go up, or what stops number from go up
mandeepj 1y ago
You haven't committed a crime if you've paid homage (bribe) to the orange Emperor, either via campaign donations, bitcoins, or stock purchase, or donation to his presidential library, or even booked a room in one of his hotels for $199. That's how much he has dragged the American Justice System for Sale; F'king Pathetic. His enablers (Senate/House lawmakers, along with conservative judges) are equal partners in his shredding of values, ethics, and standards of this country.
- frogperson 1y ago
  This is text book fascism.
  - Refreeze5224 1y ago
    Woah now, Just because it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, doesn't mean you can you the "D" word. Some ducks might get offended! They might accuse you of fomenting violence like a duck might do!
- emchammer 1y ago
  You've left out the option of a golden trophy
therobots927 1y ago
Pay to play
bombela 1y ago
Link redirects me to the MSN homepage.
- pimlottc 1y ago
  Non-MSN version: https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/david-mastio/article312243505.html https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/david-m...
ChrisArchitect 1y ago
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/19/us/politics/sec-trump-clemency.html https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/19/us/politics/sec-trump-cle...
aussieguy1234 1y ago
Committed fraud? If you paid homage to the dictator, no you didn't...
xrd 1y ago
The lesson here: steal as big as you can.
kwertyoowiyop 1y ago
At this point, the only way republicans will hear about this (other than republican engineers reading HN) is if a reporter gets on Joe Rogan and talks about it there.
- stricdder 1y ago
  [flagged]
  - LocalH 1y ago
    Vote 'em all out. We need some leadership that isn't beholden to D or R
  - OutOfHere 1y ago
    Hunter Biden didn't really have political power.
- readthenotes1 1y ago
  Not even that. The link doesn't work anymore...
  - pogue 1y ago
    Worked fine for me just a minute ago
samtheprogram 1y ago
Is the article taken down? Clicking the link just goes to a generic list of articles on MSN for me (redirects to msn.com). Perhaps the link should be changed to the source referred to by a sibling comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45368383 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45368383
- asplake 1y ago
  Works for me (iPhone, UK)
xnx 1y ago
Previous thread on the Nikola guy: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45302220 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45302220
pogue 1y ago
Here's an archived link for those who can't get the article working. It's through MSN, which aggregates other site's pages, so the layout is kind of goofy & you have to click "continue reading" or "skip to content" which might be hidden behind weird ads/JS if you're not using an ad blocker. https://archive.ph/kovD3 https://archive.ph/kovD3

160 points by petethomas 1y ago

cyanydeez 1y ago

Someones gotta power the emergent grift growth market

bix6 1y ago

Disgusting.

tickerticker 1y ago

Hope this doesn't set any kind of legal precedent.

andrewstuart2 1y ago
I'm not sure legal precedent is much of a concern for this administration.
frogperson 1y ago
Do you really think laws still matter? Thats an honest question, not rhetorical. We've seen over and over that laws are applied selectively to reward the in group and punish the out group.

prawn 1y ago

"Among the swindlers are Devon Archer, Trevor Milton and Carlos Watson, a trio of scammers who bilked Americans out of more than three quarters of a billion dollars." "Archer was Hunter Biden's business partner. After he was caught in his investment scam, he helped prosecutors and congressional Republicans go after President Joe Biden's son." "Milton is a multimillion-dollar donor to the 2024 Trump presidential campaign and had the wisdom to hire Brad Bondi, the brother of previous Trump lawyer, now-Attorney General Pam Bondi." "Watson has ties to Trump pardon czar Alice Marie Johnson, recipient of a previous Trump pardon." Feels like now more than ever, scammers should be made an example of?

JKCalhoun 1y ago
They kind of are. Well, not the kind of example you would want.
thisisit 1y ago
Coffeezilla on YouTube has been covering actions of SEC and other agencies in this administration. Lot of crypto and other scams are being forgiven especially if they have contributed to or somehow related to POTUS. In that small corner of the Internet there is a running meme - Crime is legal under this administration.
- roncesvalles 1y ago
  I mean, with all the TikTok ban extensions that are in no way supported by the ban bill, crime is literally legal now. The law is literally in a state of suspension.

pwarner 1y ago

The market should fix this, but it doesn't appear to be holding these folks to account.

rimbo789 1y ago
Markets are very bad at holding people to account for anything So is this administration. But markets are also bad at it
xnx 1y ago
The market? Historically this would be more of a mob justice situation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungle_justice https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungle_justice
LocalH 1y ago
The market only cares about what makes number go up, or what stops number from go up

mandeepj 1y ago

You haven't committed a crime if you've paid homage (bribe) to the orange Emperor, either via campaign donations, bitcoins, or stock purchase, or donation to his presidential library, or even booked a room in one of his hotels for $199. That's how much he has dragged the American Justice System for Sale; F'king Pathetic. His enablers (Senate/House lawmakers, along with conservative judges) are equal partners in his shredding of values, ethics, and standards of this country.

frogperson 1y ago
This is text book fascism.
- Refreeze5224 1y ago
  Woah now, Just because it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, doesn't mean you can you the "D" word. Some ducks might get offended! They might accuse you of fomenting violence like a duck might do!
emchammer 1y ago
You've left out the option of a golden trophy

therobots927 1y ago

Pay to play

bombela 1y ago

Link redirects me to the MSN homepage.

pimlottc 1y ago
Non-MSN version: https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/david-mastio/article312243505.html https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/david-m...

ChrisArchitect 1y ago

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/19/us/politics/sec-trump-clemency.html https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/19/us/politics/sec-trump-cle...

aussieguy1234 1y ago

Committed fraud? If you paid homage to the dictator, no you didn't...

xrd 1y ago

The lesson here: steal as big as you can.

kwertyoowiyop 1y ago

At this point, the only way republicans will hear about this (other than republican engineers reading HN) is if a reporter gets on Joe Rogan and talks about it there.

stricdder 1y ago
[flagged]
- LocalH 1y ago
  Vote 'em all out. We need some leadership that isn't beholden to D or R
- OutOfHere 1y ago
  Hunter Biden didn't really have political power.
readthenotes1 1y ago
Not even that. The link doesn't work anymore...
- pogue 1y ago
  Worked fine for me just a minute ago

samtheprogram 1y ago

Is the article taken down? Clicking the link just goes to a generic list of articles on MSN for me (redirects to msn.com). Perhaps the link should be changed to the source referred to by a sibling comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45368383 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45368383

asplake 1y ago
Works for me (iPhone, UK)

xnx 1y ago

Previous thread on the Nikola guy: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45302220 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45302220

pogue 1y ago

Here's an archived link for those who can't get the article working. It's through MSN, which aggregates other site's pages, so the layout is kind of goofy & you have to click "continue reading" or "skip to content" which might be hidden behind weird ads/JS if you're not using an ad blocker. https://archive.ph/kovD3 https://archive.ph/kovD3