SEC: Morocoin, Berge, Cirkor, and 4 Investment Clubs $14M Crypto Scam

SEC: Morocoin, Berge, Cirkor, and 4 investment clubs $14M crypto scam with fake trading platforms, offerings, and a broad reach via social media.

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More on the SEC Complaint Against Morocoin, Berge, Cirkor, and Others

SEC explained the scheme as a sequence of steps, with each stage serving a separate purpose. Defendants attracted an audience through ads on social media, then moved participants into group chats, where the scammers posed as financial professionals and promised profits based on AI-generated investment tips. Defendants then persuaded investors to send money to platforms where defendants carried out misappropriation. Importantly, they used not a single tactic but a combination of channels and roles to move users toward transferring funds. Laura D'Allaird, Chief of the Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit, said:

"This matter highlights an all-too-common form of investment scam that is being used to target U.S. retail investors with devastating consequences. Our complaint alleges a multi-step fraud that attracted victims with ads on social media, built victims' trust in group chats where fraudsters posed as financial professionals and promised profits from AI-generated investment tips, then convinced victims to put their money into fake crypto asset trading platforms where it was misappropriated. Fraud is fraud, and we will vigorously pursue securities fraud that harms retail investors."

SEC also mentioned that AI Wealth, Lane Wealth, AIIEF, and Zenith operated as investment clubs and used WhatsApp during at least January 2024 - January 2025. According to the regulator, defendants directed investors to open investor and fund accounts on Morocoin, Berge, and Cirkor and reinforced trust with claims of government licenses that defendants had no right to use in that way.

SEC tied a separate element of the scheme to Security Token Offerings. The regulator claims that defendants presented these Security Token Offerings as issuances by legitimate businesses, while defendants provided neither real trading nor real issuers: no trading took place, defendants used fake trading platforms, and the Security Token Offerings and their purported issuing companies didn't exist. Here, the SEC simultaneously points to two missing points of verification for the deal: the defendants didn't provide a functioning trading environment, and didn't provide existing issuer companies. Also, the defendants' conduct at the withdrawal stage. When investors tried to withdraw their funds, defendants demanded advance fees and thus continued the fraud at the point of the exit request, turning the attempt to withdraw into an additional channel for extracting funds.

Thus, defendants misappropriated at least $14 million from U.S.-based retail investors and routed the funds overseas through a web of bank accounts and crypto asset wallets. The regulator filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado and cited violations of the anti-fraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The regulator also asked the court to issue permanent injunctions and impose civil penalties against all defendants, and to order Morocoin, Berge, and Cirkor to pay disgorgement with prejudgment interest.

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Conclusion

Once again, it shows that today threats increasingly shift from technical to social engineering, and scam schemes more often build not around a single false promise but around a managed decision-making process where communication and infrastructure operate as a single system. Thus, the key risk arises not at the moment funds are transferred, but earlier - when the group and imposed roles substitute for independent verification and create a sense of a controlled, professional context. Be aware, get more insights from our guides for beginners and professionals, and stay tuned for the latest updates and opportunities in the new economy, crypto industry, and blockchain developments!