The founder and CEO of Titanium Blockchain Infrastructure Services (TBIS), Michael Stollery, has been sentenced to four years in prison for his role in a 2018 cryptocurrency fraud scheme that defrauded investors of $21 million. Stollery was accused of falsely advertising TBIS’ legitimacy and profitability, using fake whitepapers and client testimonials. He also mixed ICO investors’ funds with his own to pay for unrelated expenses, including his Hawaii condominium and credit card bills. Despite facing a potential sentence of up to 20 years, Stollery will instead serve a total of four years and three months.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been increasing its enforcement actions against digital-asset market participants, with 30 enforcement actions taken in 2022, up 50% from the previous year.
