The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating a $250,000 crypto scam allegedly linked to President Donald Trump, which may have affected top executives at MoonPay. The company, which operates as a centralized exchange and holds a MiCA license, has not confirmed the occurrence.
The complaint from the DOJ describes a Nigerian scammer who impersonated Steve Witkoff, using the email '[email protected]' to solicit contributions to the presidential campaign. The substitution of the letter 'i' with a lowercase 'l' in the word 'inaugural' was used to lend legitimacy to the address. Data from the case mentions two victims identified as 'Ivan' and 'Mouna'. The crypto community raised suspicions, as the names coincide with those of MoonPay's CEO, Ivan Soto-Wright, and CFO, Mouna Ammari Siala.
Furthermore, public blockchain data reveals a connection between the wallet used by the scammer and a wallet associated with Soto-Wright. The complaint suggests that the attempted donation occurred during the same period in which MoonPay was acting as the official support for TRUMP. Donald Trump launched the memecoin during the inauguration ceremony.
7 days ago, $TRUMP took the crypto world by storm
MoonPay was picked as the token's official onramp, through our partners at @moonshot
750,000 new people created a MoonPay account
we saw a 1,023% increase in first-time onchain transactions
BIG WEEK! pic.twitter.com/4FiC1Xt4ti
— MoonPay
(@moonpay) January 24, 2025
What does MoonPay say?
Although MoonPay has not made any official confirmation, the DOJ documentation and blockchain records support the hypothesis that the company was involved in the case. It is believed that the executives attempted to make a legitimate contribution, but someone deceived them during the process.
Furthermore, the episode attracted criticism regarding the priority given by the DOJ. For Mark Hays, a crypto regulation advocate, the agency may be favoring political allies:
If you are a friend of Trump, the DOJ tries proactively to recover your assets, even when there aren't many zeros in the rounding spreadsheet. But if you are an ordinary consumer and lose your life savings, no one will help you. That doesn’t seem fair, he stated in an interview.
Regardless of the criticism, the official investigation continues. The evidence places MoonPay at the center of yet another controversy involving crypto assets, fraud, and political connections.
The article 'How MoonPay may have fallen for a Trump crypto scam?' was first seen on BeInCrypto Brazil.
