The founder of BitConnect has been accused with running a $2 billion Ponzi scam.

The founder of BitConnect was accused by a federal grand jury in San Diego on Friday of allegedly organizing a $2.4 billion global Ponzi scam, according to the Justice Department.
Satish Kumbhani, 36, is accused of deceiving investors about the cryptocurrency's "loan program," claiming that proprietary technology would analyze cryptocurrency exchange markets and provide substantial returns to investors.
"However, as charged in the indictment, BitConnect operated as a Ponzi scam, paying early BitConnect investors with money from later BitConnect investors," according to the Justice Department. The plan allegedly netted Kumbhani and his co-conspirators $2.4 billion.

The financing program abruptly ended after nearly a year, according to the statement. The promoters of Kumbhani are accused of artificially inflating the price of BitConnect's digital currency to create phony market demand.

"Crime continues to transcend international borders, particularly crime using digital currencies," said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department's Criminal Division.
Kumbhani faces charges of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodity price manipulation, operating registered money transmitting business, and conspiracy to launder money internationally. He could get up to 70 years in prison if convicted.

BitConnect shut down its exchange in January 2018 after receiving cease-and-desist orders from North Carolina and Texas for selling unregistered securities. The SEC charged Kumbhani in September for his role in the $2 billion scheme. He and BitConnect's main promoter, Glenn Arcaro, pleaded guilty.
The Justice Department said in November that it would sell $56 million in cryptocurrency confiscated from BitConnect's top promoter in "the greatest single recovery of a cryptocurrency fraud by the US to date."