Thomas Smith, the former Chief Technology Officer of the now-defunct cryptocurrency firm SafeMoon, has pleaded guilty to charges of securities fraud conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy in connection with a multimillion-dollar scheme that allegedly defrauded investors out of more than $200 million.
Appearing before Magistrate Judge Cheryl Pollak on February 20, Smith admitted to misleading investors regarding the security of SafeMoon’s liquidity pool, falsely asserting that it was locked and inaccessible. Court documents indicate that he formally withdrew his previous not-guilty plea and entered a guilty plea on both charges.
Judge Pollak subsequently recommended that U.S. District Judge Eric Komitee, who is presiding over the case, accept the plea.
If the court proceeds with sentencing, Smith could face a maximum of 20 years in prison for wire fraud conspiracy and up to 25 years for securities fraud conspiracy.
The SafeMoon scandal first came to light in November 2023 when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) charged Smith, alongside SafeMoon CEO Braden John Karony and project creator Kyle Nagy, with conspiracy, fraud, and money laundering.
The authorities allege that the trio falsely marketed SafeMoon’s SFM token as a secure investment while secretly retaining full access to its liquidity pool. They allegedly misappropriated investor funds for luxury cars, real estate, and other extravagant purchases. According to the SEC, they were also engaged in wash trading to inflate SFM’s market cap to $8 billion before the token’s value ultimately collapsed.
Following the charges, Smith and Karony were arrested, while Nagy remains at large. Karony has pleaded not guilty and has actively fought the charges, including a failed attempt to have them dismissed. His request to delay the trial was also denied, with opening statements now scheduled to begin on April 7.
In a separate case, U.S. authorities have indicted Andean Medjedovic for allegedly conducting cyberattacks on two DeFi protocols—KyberSwap in 2023 and Indexed Finance in 2021. Medjedovic is accused of exploiting vulnerabilities in smart contracts to steal a combined $65.3 million, leaving investors with worthless assets.
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