The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has taken action against what it alleges is a $30 million cryptocurrency scam based around supposed diamond investment, CoinDesk.com reported. The SEC alleged that defendant Jose Angel Aman operated a purported crypto business called Argyle Coin as a Ponzi scheme, using investments from new recruits to pay returns to previous investors. According to the SEC complaint, Aman is said to have fleeced over 300 investors since May 2014 by selling unregistered securities in two other firms he owns: Natural Diamonds Investment Co. (Natural Diamonds) and Eagle Financial Diamond Group Inc. He “falsely promised” investors that the firms would invest in whole diamonds to cut down and sell for substantial profits, the SEC said. He was allegedly assisted in the scheme by Harold Seigel and Jonathan H. Seigel, who also had interest in the two firms.
