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In the last few weeks alone, 1. Categories Bankruptcies Crypto Schemes. The troubled U. crypto lender Genesis said it has no immediate plans to file for bankruptcy after the FTX collapse forced it to suspend customer redemptions. A report from Bloomberg News said Genesis was struggling to raise fresh cash for its lending unit. The lender has approached crypto Binance for investment and to bid for its loan book, according to people familiar with the matter.

However, Binance decided not to invest. Next: Request For Information — Easytrade And Nisan Israel. Reading: Binary Options Fraud — Israeli Lissa Mel pleads Guilty In U. Search for: Search Begin typing your search above and press return to search. in Israel — Shira Uzan, Liora Welles, Austin Smith and Yair Hadar — also signed plea deals with the US government and await sentencing.

Nine other Yukom defendants were indicted in February. Lissa Mel, 30, who also goes by the name of Melissa Turdiev, was arrested by the FBI on September 17, at Los Angeles International Airport as she attempted to board a plane back to Israel.

The website also said that Mel moved to Israel at the age of 11 from Uzbekistan and grew up in the tony suburb of Herzliya Pituach. She was the daughter of professors, but was not herself a good student, the website said.

Mel was one of many thousands of Israelis who have worked in the binary options and related Internet scams over the past decade. Many of the fraudulent operatives have since moved their operations abroad, or switched to other scams.

The vast majority of the perpetrators have enriched themselves at the expense of victims around the world while enjoying impunity and suffering little social stigma.

While in many areas, like technology and the academy, Israel is at the forefront of the developed world, in this area Israel seems to be falling behind other developed countries, especially the United States. In taking more enforcement actions, the United States can help the state of Israel, not only by signaling to lawbreakers in Israel that they cannot act with impunity, lissa mel binary options , but also in leading the way for Israeli enforcement agencies.

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Lissa Mel in a photo that appeared on her Instagram profile shortly before her arrest. Lissa Mel Facebook screenshot. Lee Lissa mel binary options, an Israeli woman on trial in the United States for binary options fraud, enters the Greenbelt, Maryland courthouse on July 25, Elbaz was convicted in August Photo credit: Times of Israel. Lissa Mel as a reality show contestant in Israel in Nimrod Assif Facebook. Thank you, Sarah Lissa mel binary options Singer, lissa mel binary options , New Media Editor.

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An Israeli former reality show contestant has been arrested and charged in the United States for alleged binary options fraud, The Times of Israel has learned. Lissa Mel, 30, who also goes by the name of Melissa Turdiev, was arrested by the FBI on September 17 at Los Angeles International Airport as she attempted to board a plane back to Israel. Kennedy airport in New York in September Mel allegedly worked as a retention agent for the binary options websites BigOption and BinaryBook, where Elbaz, whose trial is set to begin on January 7, was CEO.

Mel had a plea hearing on December 13, , but the documents revealing what happened during that hearing are sealed. A former federal prosecutor consulted by The Times of Israel suggested that she may have pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors, although there is no way to know for sure.

She faces up to 20 years in prison. Mel has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. According to the US Justice Department, from May to December , Mel worked as a sales agent for BigOption and BinaryBook, two binary options websites that were run from the offices of Yukom Communications in Israel. The US government alleges that Mel conspired to mislead investors by inducing them to deposit as much money as possible and took steps to ensure that the investors lost the money in their accounts, thereby making money for herself and the company.

The affidavit also alleges that representatives of BigOption and BinaryBook deliberately targeted vulnerable populations. According to the affidavit, the FBI is in possession of at least two recorded phone calls in which Mel encourages investors to deposit as much money as possible with the knowledge, the affidavit alleges, that the investors will lose some or all of their money.

A binary option is an option contract whose payoff depends on the price of another asset, like gold, wheat, or Apple stocks. In the case of the Israeli binary options industry, companies offering these contracts were largely fraudulent.

They would dupe victims worldwide into believing that they were successfully investing and earning money, encouraging them to deposit more and more into their accounts, until the company eventually cut off contact with the investor and disappeared with all or almost all of their money. The industry is estimated to have stolen billions of dollars from victims worldwide over a period of 10 years.

Israel banned the entire industry a year ago. Since then, many former binary options operatives have pivoted to other financial products, including initial coin offerings ICOs. Despite the fact that more than 10, people are estimated to have worked in the industry, many of whom engaged in activities not substantially different from those allegedly carried out by Mel, Israel has yet to prosecute a single alleged binary options perpetrator.

BigOption and BinaryBook are only two of hundreds of such websites run from Israel in recent years. In a memorandum filed in the case, the Justice Department explained why it brought charges against Mel, even though she was not a high-level binary options operative. Everything gets unsealed at the same time. They would never make public a cooperation agreement itself. The only thing you would see is a guilty plea. Porter said that there are other reasons to seal the record of a plea hearing as well — for instance, if a suspect has health problems and requested that that information be kept private.

The website also said that Mel moved to Israel at the age of 11 from Uzbekistan and grew up in the tony suburb of Herzliya Pituach. She was the daughter of professors, but was not herself a good student, the website said. Mel arrived in the United States on a tourist visa on September 6, according to the affidavit. On September 11, the FBI interviewed her at the residence where she was staying.

Mel had been scheduled to fly back to Israel on September 17, but after the visit from the FBI, she attempted, but failed, to reschedule her flight to leave on the 13th, according to the FBI. Mel was arrested on September 17, as she attempted to board her originally scheduled flight. After her arrest, Mel signed papers saying she is currently employed, but the name of the company she worked for was illegible.

Mel will have no further comment at this time. Elbaz, 36, has been charged in the District of Maryland with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud, according to a Department of Justice press release. Each of these four charges carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. com, and JanusOptions. com, among others. As a result of the scheme, investors suffered losses, including losses of retirement funds, which SpotFN encouraged investors to use.

Suleymanov has subsequently agreed to a monetary settlement with the SEC, in which he neither accepts nor denies the allegations in the complaint. Suleymanov was also charged in a parallel criminal case brought by the US Justice Department.

Suleymanov was arrested by the FBI in July His attorney told The Times of Israel that under the terms of his settlement with both the Justice Department and SEC, the criminal charges have now been dropped. According to a July 21, , affidavit filed by the Justice Department, the FBI investigation was prompted by numerous complaints against the company behind the SpotFN. com website, SpotFN Ltd, which was purportedly based in the UK. According to the affidavit, the FBI learned that the site was actually run by Suleymanov when the agency subpoenaed information from Domains by Proxy, a company that allows website owners to conceal their identities.

According to information available online, SpotFN appears to have operated a call center in Costa Rica. Nevertheless, the site appears connected to Israel in that it used the platform of SpotOption, an Israeli company.

In addition, the British company behind the SpotFN website, SpotFN Ltd. was originally registered, in January , care of another British company, Zynatech International Limited, incorporated on February 22, , and directed by an Israeli woman named Tova Tatiana Pinchasov.

Before it was dissolved in October , Zynatech International UK was owned by Zynatech International Limited in the Seychelles, a company incorporated in February and inactivated on January 2, According to the Panama Papers Leak of The Times of Israel has seen documents showing that Zynatech International Limited in the Seychelles was incorporated in The Times of Israel contacted Pinchasov in an attempt to ask about her connection to SpotFN, but she did not respond.

Suleymanov immigrated to the United States from the former Soviet Union, as a member of the Bukharan emigre community from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. In addition to his alleged binary options activity, SEC filings show he is a shareholder in a company called Diamond Technology Enterprises Inc. Dayan, told The Times of Israel that he will not be indicted. Suleymanov will not be indicted. In fact, the Criminal Complaint against him is now dismissed.

They allow the suspect to settle with the SEC and pay the money and agree to dismiss the criminal charges. The cases against Mel and Suleymanov are two of about a dozen cases in which the US government has brought charges against alleged binary options fraudsters with connections to Israel.

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So now we have a request. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community. Lissa Mel in a photo that appeared on her Instagram profile shortly before her arrest. Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories. Newsletter email address Get it By signing up, you agree to the terms. Lissa Mel Facebook screenshot. Lissa Mel as a reality show contestant in Israel in Thank you, Tal Schneider, Political Correspondent.

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The lender has approached crypto Binance for investment and to bid for its loan book, according to people familiar with the matter. Much money was also spent on private purposes and luxury real estate. Post Comment. The troubled U. Most Popular. On September 11, the FBI interviewed her at the residence where she was staying.

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