Trader Gets 15 Months for Cryptocurrency Fraud

(Bloomberg) -- A trader was sentenced to 15 months in prison for misappropriating $1.1 million in Bitcoin and Litecoin. Prosecutors say Joseph Kim stole $600,000 in the cryptocurrency from his firm, Consolidated Trading LLC, to cover personal losses trading crypto futures on foreign exchanges. They called it the first criminal prosecution in Chicago involving crypto trading.

• After being fired Kim lost another $545,000 in fraudulent scheme that victimized at least five investors
• Scheme took place in 2017; Kim pleaded guilty to wire fraud in May
• Additional action brought by Commodity Futures Trading Commission
• Sentence issued by U.S. District Judge Andrea R. Wood
• U.S. Atty. John Lausch Jr.: “The criminal justice system will hold traders and investment professionals accountable for cheating and stealing”

To contact the reporter on this story: Janan Hanna in Chicago at jhanna31@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Peter Jeffrey, Steve Stroth

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