A Colorado-based pastor for an internet church accused of pocketing $1.3 million via a cryptocurrency fraud scheme told followers in a video statement that the Lord told him to do it.
Eli Regalado and his spouse marketed their cryptocurrency, INDXcoin, to Christian communities in Denver, saying God told him individuals would turn out to be rich in the event that they invested, the Colorado Division of Securities stated in a statement Thursday.
INDXcoin raised almost $3.2 million, the Securities Division stated. Not less than $1.3 million of that went on to the Regalados or was “used for their very own private profit,” stated a grievance filed Tuesday in Denver County District Courtroom.
The Regalados couldn’t be reached for remark. In a video assertion to his followers final week, Eli Regalado stated the costs that they pocketed $1.3 million “are true.”
“Out of the $1.3 [million], half one million {dollars} went to the IRS, and some hundred thousand {dollars} went to a house transform the Lord told us to do,” he stated in the video.
The couple additionally allegedly spent their traders’ funds on a Vary Rover, luxurious purses, jewellery, an au pair, boat leases and snowmobile adventures, in line with the grievance.
The couple had been charged with violating anti-fraud provisions beneath the Colorado Securities Act.
Colorado Securities Commissioner Tung Chan stated she filed the civil fraud costs after she was approached by individuals who invested and misplaced cash via INDXcoin.
“We allege that Mr. Regalado took benefit of the belief and religion of his personal Christian group and that he peddled outlandish guarantees of wealth to them when he bought them primarily nugatory cryptocurrencies,” Chan said in a statement.
‘Illiquid and virtually nugatory’
Regalado claimed that God told him traders would turn out to be rich in the event that they put cash into INDXcoin, selling it as a low-risk, high-profit funding pegged to the typical worth of the highest 100 cryptocurrencies, the Securities Division stated.
In actuality, INDXcoin was “illiquid and virtually nugatory,” the Securities Division stated in its launch. The cryptocurrency was out there solely in Kingdom Wealth Change, which the Regalados shut down. It will possibly now not be bought anyplace.
“We took God at his phrase and bought a cryptocurrency with no clear exit,” Regalado in his video tackle Friday. “What we’re believing for nonetheless is that God goes to do a miracle. God goes to work a miracle in the monetary sector.”
Within the feedback on Regalado’s video, dozens of individuals proceed to reassure him that God will “flip the state of affairs round.”
Religion-based advertising
Regalado was 22 and serving a jail sentence for “boosting automobiles” when his religion known as him to turn out to be a pastor 20 years in the past, he stated in a YouTube dwell podcast. He started preaching for the online-only Victorious Grace Church, the place he and his spouse are listed as the one two workers.
Regalado, who had no cryptocurrency or trade background, stated divine inspiration known as him to launch INDXcoin and Kingdom Wealth Change.
“It was final October [20]21 that the Lord introduced this cryptocurrency to me. He stated, ‘Take this to my individuals for a wealth switch,’” Regalado stated in a video replace to INDXcoin followers in August 2022.
Regalado marketed INDXcoin via shows at his church and at others he discovered via different pastors, in line with the authorized grievance. From June 2022 to April 2023, the cryptocurrency raised almost $3.2 million by promoting unregistered securities, it stated.
In movies on INDXcoin’s YouTube channel, Regalado quotes Bible verses, telling traders to anticipate a “miracle” as they anticipate “God’s plan” to unfold.
Regalado additionally told traders they might “tithe” and “sow” in causes serving to widows and orphans, however the funds primarily went into their very own pockets, in line with the grievance.
“They particularly went out to the Christian group, and there’s so much of references to scripture and religion. He cloaks himself in that to get individuals to provide their cash to him,” stated Chan, the securities commissioner. “That’s actually heartbreaking for the individuals who trusted him.”
Eli Regalado, his spouse and his three corporations are charged with securities fraud, unlicensed broker-dealer exercise, promoting unregistered securities and imposition of constructive belief.
They’re scheduled to seem in Denver District Courtroom subsequent week, in line with the court docket docket.
Chan urges others who’ve invested in INDXCoin to contact the Colorado Division of Securities.