Scoop: California law allows scammer to add six Tether execs to startup
Thanks to strange corporate rules and regulations in California and Colorado, a Chinese pig-butchering scammer and a US-based swindler of the elderly combined forces to pretend they were working directly with Tether and its executives, corporate filings show.
Convicted criminal Mohammad Alam and Chinese national Sun Yunfeng — who is currently being sued by Google — were able to get away with including the names of all Tether executives in one company and naming another company ‘USDT Bank LLC.’
Sun Yunfeng leads the charge(s)
Currently facing civil RICO charges from Google, Sun Yunfeng has managed to escape being served by one of the most massive corporations on Earth by simply hiding in China.
The alleged serial scammer, who created dozens of Google Store apps to steal money from unsuspecting users to fund ongoing pig-butchering scams in Myanmar, Cambodia, and other parts of Southeast Asia, is the chairperson for a California-based company called Cryptocurrency Association.
Sun includes one of his pseudonyms — Alphonse Sun — on the firm’s corporate form as the ‘independent director of the board.’
Entered into the company filing are six Tether executives, ranging from general counsel Stuart Hoegner to CFO Giancarlo Devasini, with addresses being listed as the office address for the Cryptocurrency Association.
Tether stated, “We are concerned and investigating the matter. At this point we can confirm that Tether has no connection to this apparent scheme.”
Laughably, Sun’s LinkedIn profile lists one of his previous jobs as that of a social worker for the Salvation Army and, on Chinese social media, gave his company the ‘2018 Brand Influence Immigration Agency Award.’
Read more: Google claims its crypto scam lawsuit is ‘first of its kind’
California Secretary of State has an interesting explanation
According to an individual speaking on behalf of the Secretary of State’s office of California, if a limited liability company is being formed in the state it requires at least one primary officer to reside in the state. However, when a company like the Cryptocurrency Association is formed — a ‘common interest development corporation’ — no such requirement is necessary.
Additionally, California’s incorporation policy is what’s known as a ‘good faith filing policy.’ This means that when individuals are listed as being a part of the company, it’s accepted as fact until proven to be false.
The individual from the Secretary of State’s office added that anyone who lies in these corporate documents faces perjury charges, at the very least, from the attorney general.
When asked how a perjury charge would hurt Chinese nationals or individuals living in countries without extradition policies with the US, the Secretary of State’s office did not have an answer.
Protos has reached out to the California Attorney General’s office and will update if or when they respond.
Sun and Alam join forces
Due to the fact that including the word ‘bank’ in the name of a company that isn’t a bank is illegal in California, (unless it’s done with express permission from the Secretary of State) Sun chose to incorporate USDT Bank LLC in Colorado, where no such laws exist.
The fake Tether-related entity was created in 2022, with Sun and Alam also pretending to be related to Bitpay, a bitcoin payment processor located in the US.
Alam partnering with a pig-butchering fraud is par for the course for the New York-based criminal: in April of 2022, Alam pled guilty to misprision of a felony that involved scamming the elderly in Louisiana out of nearly $350,000. He agreed to a sentence of two years probation and restitution.
Read more: Tether-owned Northern Data accused of fraud by former execs
Corporate loopholes, pig-butchering, and tech
While corporate documents suggest that Sun is either in Shenzhen or Xian, the unfortunate reality is that the Chinese national could be anywhere — not just in China, but also possibly shuffling amongst the extremely porous borders between Yunnan province and Myanmar or Laos.
Odds of getting away scot-free aren’t as likely for Mohammad Alam, as he apparently still resides in the US and only recently got off probation for involving himself with a similar online scam.
What’s clear is that corporate loopholes are allowing foreign nationals to perpetuate significant frauds against the most vulnerable people in America, with no real expectations of reacquiring stolen funds or prosecuting international criminals.
It’s important to recognize that corporate rules and regulations, along with state and federal laws, could be altered to stop this type of behavior.
Protos wasn’t able to get a quote from a law enforcement official, but, when we reached out to the Department of Justice, an individual did state that many laws, rules, and regulations are outdated and do little to protect consumers from pig-butchering and other high stakes, international financial scams.
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