[FRAUD] Centra Tech - The Floyd Mayweather promoted 'Crypto debit card' ICO

[cryptodevil]

Ok, which ICO thread does this concern?
This 'Centra Tech' moderated ANN thread

Nutshell the ICO for me
Collecting millions of dollars in investment to create a Visa/Mastercard debit card capable of making purchases in fiat which are funded through a raft of cryptocurrency balances held by the user.

So what's the problem with this ICO, are you calling it an outright scam?
It's complicated. One man's cynical-grab-for-cash suspicious vapourware scam is another man's totally-legitimate-it-just-made-myriad-honest-mistakes project. Which is why this thread is titled 'Red Flags' rather than 'Scam' - for now. There is an awful lot to be very concerned about when it comes to this ICO and the people connected to it.

Yes, it has now been proven to be an outright scam.

But the ICO is over, why create this thread now?
It only came to my attention recently. Even if the ICO is over and the funds have already been collected there is value in ensuring information is available to both ICO participants and those considering the token on the open markets in the future. Also, the main reason for creating this thread is that I recently made a number of posts in their moderated ANN thread to raise some of these issues and seek an answer from the people running this operation, which were ignored and deleted. Which leads me to placing that as the first item on the list of red flags.

What are the red flags concerning this project?
They are, in no particular order, the following:

1. Multiple posts deleted in their moderated thread which raised serious issues of concern regarding elements of this ICO and the project purported to be underlying it.
2. The OP of their moderated thread is a bought/hacked account - evidenced by the fact they forgot they were the OP and their post history shows the typical signs of one. Previously was owned by a representative of India's Unocoin website before suddenly shilling for altcoins and eventually Centra Tech.
3. The Centra.Tech website Terms of Service appear to be a slightly modified direct copy of those issued by Bitpay, namely, they concern Merchant services only and are not representative of the business model Centra Tech Inc. purports to be operating under when promoting their operation in ICO marketing material.
4. For a business based in the US, founded by American English speakers, their marketing and promotional material has numerous grammatical errors and phrases entirely inconsistent with Western business English, e.g. referring to their company as 'her'.
5. Their 'whitepaper' is nothing of the sort and consists almost entirely of ICO-based hype and largely irrelevant vagaries and advice on how to buy their ICO token 'CTR'. The core 'engine' of this platform is referred to as the Currency Conversion Exchange module (CCE), yet garners a single small paragraph of, again, garbled-English statements which fail to even describe what the 'CCE' is or how it functions within the technological platform proposed by the ICO.
6. Some of the team members are listed as being responsible for roles inconsistent with their online history, e.g. their 'Blockchain Director' being someone who set up a very poorly-constructed 'freelancer' website, which he then changed to a poorly-constructed 'Bitcoin Exchange', before attempting, and failing, to launch his own vaguely-worded ICO earlier in the year.
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[cryptodevil]

A reply of yours, quoted below, was deleted by the starter of a self-moderated topic. There are no rules of self-moderation, so this deletion cannot be appealed. Do not continue posting in this topic if the topic-starter has requested that you leave.

You can create a new topic if you are unsatisfied with this one. If the topic-starter is scamming, post about it in Scam Accusations.

Yes, they have a plan to launch their own blockchain centrachain by the next year 2018 where CTR tokens will serve as the fuel for it.

Ok, but how does their blockchain actually function in terms of the 'CCE' module's ability to sell multicurrency cryptocurrencies and transmit liquidity in fiat to credit the client's card account at Visa/Mastercard?

A reply of yours, quoted below, was deleted by the starter of a self-moderated topic. There are no rules of self-moderation, so this deletion cannot be appealed. Do not continue posting in this topic if the topic-starter has requested that you leave.

You can create a new topic if you are unsatisfied with this one. If the topic-starter is scamming, post about it in Scam Accusations.

Wow, that 'whitepaper' is truly shocking.

There is something quite noticeable about much of its phrasing though:

All of the above attempts to sound very important and legal, but is excruciating to read and, considering it was used to launch a much-hyped ICO seeking many millions of dollars in funding, is incredibly disconcerting. Seriously, almost every sentence of the above extract is wrong. The sort of incorrect use of expressions that a native English-speaker wouldn't make.

Given my experience with these things I'd say, with some confidence, that while this 'whitepaper' should have been put together very carefully and with much consideration and review prior to public release, the person responsible for writing such a peculiarly phrased and garbled attempt at English was most likely...*cough*...rushin'. <=--- Nudge, nudge. Wink.

A reply of yours, quoted below, was deleted by the starter of a self-moderated topic. There are no rules of self-moderation, so this deletion cannot be appealed. Do not continue posting in this topic if the topic-starter has requested that you leave.

You can create a new topic if you are unsatisfied with this one. If the topic-starter is scamming, post about it in Scam Accusations.

It is basic legalese. Probably written by a lawyer.

No. It is not. In any way.

To save on time and effort, let me just break down that first paragraph for you:

Centra Tech has her clients at heart

'Her' clients? That is not a term employed in the West to describe the clients of a business entity. English-speakers do not ascribe gender to an incorporated business entity.

, therefore, all computerized money that Centra Tech holds online is completely guaranteed.

'all computerized money' would never be the legal term used to describe cryptocurrency tokens because, as we all know, there are still very few jurisdictions where the statute books would even recognise cryptocurrencies as 'money', let alone the undefined notion of 'computerized money'.

This means that, were Centra Tech to endure a break of its online storage,

'Endure a break'? Again, incorrect phrasing for Western English, let alone legalese Western English.

any client stores lost as a result would be paid out by the insurance.

'client stores'? That doesn't even describe anything.

The insurance policy covers any misfortunes coming about because of a break of Centra’s physical security, digital security, or employee theft.

No lawyer would EVER agree to the inclusion of the assertion that an insurance policy would cover 'any misfortune', let alone qualify it regarding 'a break of Centra's physical security' which, again, doesn't use the correct English phrasing and is absolutely undefined and too broad an expression to be meaningful.

A reply of yours, quoted below, was deleted by the starter of a self-moderated topic. There are no rules of self-moderation, so this deletion cannot be appealed. Do not continue posting in this topic if the topic-starter has requested that you leave.

You can create a new topic if you are unsatisfied with this one. If the topic-starter is scamming, post about it in Scam Accusations.

Let me get this right,

1.Centra Tech Inc. (Incorporation Date 7/27/2017) has signed up for a regular Visa/Mastercard branded card to issue to their customers.
2. Their customers create an account with Centra Tech's platform and are given cryptocurrency deposit addresses to fund the card.
3. Their customers receive said card and, when using it to make purchases, there is an automated back-office system which provides fiat liquidity for the card through the immediate selling of these cryptocurrencies in exchange for the required fiat currency of the transaction.

That is pretty much the nuts and bolts of this platform as far as this 'Centra Card' and its ICO is concerned. In that it is a regular fiat card which is funded through the customer's own cryptocurrency deposits.

Here's where things lose me, because I've read this 'whitepaper', and I'm using that term very loosely indeed, and asides from the usual plethora of blockchain-fairydust/ICO hype, there appears only this single paragraph concerning the methodology of how this supposed system will function:

The grammar strikes me as a little, erm, 'off' would be the polite word to describe it but, more than that, it doesn't actually describe anything. It is just vague hand-wavy nonsense, alluding to there being 'something exchange-ey' happening.

Is there any actual detail available anywhere describing this back-office 'CCE' module? How does the 'CTR' ICO token function within this platform?

A reply of yours, quoted below, was deleted by the starter of a self-moderated topic. There are no rules of self-moderation, so this deletion cannot be appealed. Do not continue posting in this topic if the topic-starter has requested that you leave.

You can create a new topic if you are unsatisfied with this one. If the topic-starter is scamming, post about it in Scam Accusations.

Oh look, how surprising, more fail from people who struggle with the English language.

This project is rapidly accumulating a wealth of red flags.

[cryptodevil]

From my understanding, CTR tokens do two things: (1) provide network rewards to holders and (2) power the product suite of Centra. In order to use Centra, it looks like CTR tokens are required.

But they are just ERC20 tokens, how are they supposed to 'power the product suite' of Centra?

This is what I'm trying to establish, where there might be a meaningful description of actual technological methodology for this platform's 'engine' this 'CCE module'.

They have filed patents for the CCE module. I am not sure if they will disclose much information about this, the white paper needs to be cleaned up still IMO, but then again we have stupid concepts raising 30M+ so lets see what happens. The ICO is closed and a success. Time will tell all, and they are all about progress. Their blockchain which comes out next year is scheduled to be unveiled on the Blockchain Expo in Santa Clara, maybe you should go there and ask?

If they filed patents, then it should be searchable on the USPTO website.

Not for a period of time, look how frequent they update that database. I could be wrong the OP should answer this.

The OP? You're the OP.

Posting from the wrong account?

OP of moderated thread 'Dashingriddler' which was previously owned by a Unocoin rep and which suddenly stopped posting about Unocoin and began posting in altcoin threads for signature bounties until eventually shilling for Centra Tech.

[cryptodevil]

https://www.centra.tech/terms-of-services/index.html


https://bitpay.com/about/terms

https://www.centra.tech/terms-of-services/index.html


https://bitpay.com/about/terms

[cryptodevil]

A reply of yours, quoted below, was deleted by the starter of a self-moderated topic. There are no rules of self-moderation, so this deletion cannot be appealed. Do not continue posting in this topic if the topic-starter has requested that you leave.

You can create a new topic if you are unsatisfied with this one. If the topic-starter is scamming, post about it in Scam Accusations.

Couple of questions:

1. Which jurisdiction is 'Centra Tech' incorporated in?

2. You've got 'Andrey Nechesov' listed as the 'Blockchain Director'

But his online history shows him running the above "freelancer and customer" site, changing it to a 'bitcoin exchange' earlier this year

Hello, friends!

http://PRCR.org we launched a new Bitcoin Exchange.

1) Now you can buy Bitcoins and change in rubles, dollars, euro.
  http://prcr.org/money/exchange/?currency_from=15&currency_to=1

2) You can also create real Bitcoin addresses, add existing addresses.
 http://prcr.org/btc/addresses/

3) Most importantly, you can make both group and individual transactions.
 http://prcr.org/btc/send/

4) So nice - we have a very cool Bitcoin faucet. There is no hype. Get your Satoshi every minute.
 http://prcr.org/btc/faucet/

5) For earnings, we have a partner program. Get your revenue per guest referral! With each income PRCR.
 http://prcr.org/partners/

All questions and comments to ask in this topic or page http://prcr.org/nechesov

Create a Global Bitcoin Community!

Before attempting, and failing, to launch an ICO for something he simply labelled, "First ICO platform for business"

Finally settling on mentioning how they helped with this ICO in some way

It doesn't really give this project much credibility to be citing somebody as 'Blockchain Director' who appears to be nothing of the sort.

[UAE Seasider]

They released several high end cards to users before the ICO finished and those people used the cards to make purchases verified in may ways in photo and by video.

The app was released on IOS this morning and Android follows shortly after

How does this equate to vapourware? I think you mean Monaco and got mixed up chap

Your post is poorly researched and seems like a hit job to me

[cryptodevil]

They released several high end cards to users before the ICO finished and those people used the cards to make purchases verified in may ways in photo and by video.

It is their own 'company' branded card and would have been funded by them with fiat to make those purchases. There is no evidence the 'CCE' module they describe converted cryptocurrency into fiat to fund those transactions. Otherwise they would have been easily able to prove it by showing the transaction taking place on the blockchain in real time. All those videos showed was a regular purchase being made by a funded card.

I would like to hear from the team on the recent issue with MasterCard now

https://news.bitcoin.com/bitcoin-debit-cards-non-european-residents-visas-new-rules/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/75gu4d/mastercard_joins_visa_to_ban_issuing_btc_prepaid/

Will this be impacting Centra Cards in any way?

I am assuming it will not affect Centra in any way and it is about 3rd party like wavecrest. Centra is not using a third party instead using a bank to issue the cards.
If Centra were to be affected it would have been when VISA was restricted. Anyway, please do wait for official statement from Centra on this.

From official chat :

Our card is a Co Branded Debit Card from our issuing Bank Partner. We are not directly contracted with Visa or Mastercard.

The app was released on IOS this morning and Android follows shortly after

Ooh, a mobile wallet? How innovative. I'll wait until there's proof that their famed real-time automagically-converting crypto-to-fiat 'CCE' module is actually a thing before considering a retraction.

[UAE Seasider]

Oh so you are willing to retract the whole thing if proven wrong?

Maybe you aren't so unreasonable after all 

I mentioned the APP was released today this is the part with the CCE module, which is why the first purchases would have been made by FIAT.
But on that topic how much effort do you think it would take to get into a partnership with a Bank to be able to release even a normal credit card?

[cryptodevil]

how much effort do you think it would take to get into a partnership with a Bank to be able to release even a normal credit card?

They are not really 'in a partnership' with a bank, they are just-another-commercial-customer of the bank who is 'reselling' branded cards in their business name. You fill out the right forms and pretty much anyone can do the same thing.

That is why they are debit cards and not credit cards, because Centra Tech Inc. doesn't have the credentials to issue branded credit cards.

[yogg]

I have been approached in an attempt to buy a positive feedback from me to Centra's developper, dashingriddler.
Beware ! They are using very shady techniques.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2514733.0

[cryptodevil]

Colour me unsurprised:
https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2018-53

SEC Halts Fraudulent Scheme Involving Unregistered ICO

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2018-53

Washington D.C., April 2, 2018 —

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged two co-founders of a purported financial services start-up with orchestrating a fraudulent initial coin offering (ICO) that raised more than $32 million from thousands of investors last year.  Criminal authorities separately charged and arrested both defendants.   

The SEC's complaint alleges that Sohrab “Sam”� Sharma and Robert Farkas, co-founders of Centra Tech. Inc., masterminded a fraudulent ICO in which Centra offered and sold unregistered investments through a "CTR Token."�  Sharma and Farkas allegedly claimed that funds raised in the ICO would help build a suite of financial products.  They claimed, for example, to offer a debit card backed by Visa and MasterCard that would allow users to instantly convert hard-to-spend cryptocurrencies into U.S. dollars or other legal tender.  In reality, the SEC alleges, Centra had no relationships with Visa or MasterCard.  The SEC also alleges that to promote the ICO, Sharma and Farkas created fictional executives with impressive biographies, posted false or misleading marketing materials to Centra’s website, and paid celebrities to tout the ICO on social media. 

According to the complaint, Farkas made flight reservations to leave the country, but was arrested before he was able to board his flight.  Criminal authorities also arrested Sharma. 

"We allege that Centra sold investors on the promise of new digital technologies by using a sophisticated marketing campaign to spin a web of lies about their supposed partnerships with legitimate businesses,” said Stephanie Avakian, Co-Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement.  “As the complaint alleges, these and other claims were simply false."

"As we allege, the defendants relied heavily on celebrity endorsements and social media to market their scheme,”� said Steve Peikin, Co-Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement.  “Endorsements and glossy marketing materials are no substitute for the SEC’s registration and disclosure requirements as well as diligence by investors.”

The SEC’s complaint, filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York, charges Sharma and Farkas with violating the anti-fraud and registration provisions of the federal securities laws.  The complaint seeks permanent injunctions, return of allegedly ill-gotten gains plus interest and penalties, as well as bars against Sharma and Farkas serving as public company officers or directors and from participating in any offering of digital or other securities.  In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York today announced criminal charges against Sharma and Farkas. 

The SEC's investigation, which is continuing, is being conducted by Jon A. Daniels, Luke M. Fitzgerald, and Alison R. Levine of the SEC's Cyber Unit and New York Regional Office, and supervised by Valerie A. Szczepanik and Robert A. Cohen.  The litigation is being conducted by Mr. Daniels, Mr. Fitzgerald, and Ms. Levine, and supervised by Ms. Szczepanik.  The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Investors in the Centra ICO who believe they may be a victim should contact www.SEC.gov/tcr.  The SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy has issued an Investor Bulletin on initial coin offerings and additional information is available on Investor.gov and SEC.gov.

[mikeoneal]

Market Cap
$8,735,280 USD
1,192 BTC
21,817 ETH
Volume (24h)
$29,394,700 USD
4,010 BTC
73,415 ETH
 The price crashed    I knew one day those guys will go in jail .

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/02/technology/virtual-currency-arrest-centra.html

[cryptodevil]

Just to update this thread with some more news on the arrest and detention of the three main scammers:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crypto-currencies-centratech-indictme/u-s-says-centra-tech-co-founders-indicted-for-cryptocurrency-fraud-idUSKCN1IF32O

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors on Monday announced the indictment of three co-founders of a cryptocurrency start-up once promoted by the boxer Floyd Mayweather, accusing them of fraudulently raising more than $25 million from investors in an initial coin offering.

Sohrab “Sam” Sharma, Robert Farkas and Raymond Trapani, who co-founded Centra Tech Inc, were each charged with securities fraud, wire fraud and two conspiracy counts, according to an indictment filed with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

Prosecutors said the defendants, who live in Florida, misled investors in Centra tokens that they had formed partnerships with Visa Inc (V.N), MasterCard Inc (MA.N) and Delaware-based The Bancorp Inc (TBBK.O) to issue debit cards, lied about having money transmitter licenses and created a fictitious chief executive officer.

Lawyers for the three defendants could not be immediately reached for comment.

The three men were arrested last month and the FBI seized 91,000 “Ether units” consisting of digital funds currently worth $60 million, according to a release announcing the indictment.

Authorities around the world have attempted to rein in the global boom in trading cryptocurrencies - a form of digital money created and maintained by its users.

“As alleged, the defendants conspired to capitalize on investor interest in the burgeoning cryptocurrency market,”

Deputy U.S. Attorney Robert Khuzami said in the release. “Whether traditional or cutting-edge, investment vehicles can’t legally be peddled with falsehoods and lies.”

[GlassPod]

Just to update this thread with some more news on the arrest and detention of the three main scammers:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crypto-currencies-centratech-indictme/u-s-says-centra-tech-co-founders-indicted-for-cryptocurrency-fraud-idUSKCN1IF32O

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors on Monday announced the indictment of three co-founders of a cryptocurrency start-up once promoted by the boxer Floyd Mayweather, accusing them of fraudulently raising more than $25 million from investors in an initial coin offering.

Sohrab “Sam” Sharma, Robert Farkas and Raymond Trapani, who co-founded Centra Tech Inc, were each charged with securities fraud, wire fraud and two conspiracy counts, according to an indictment filed with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

Prosecutors said the defendants, who live in Florida, misled investors in Centra tokens that they had formed partnerships with Visa Inc (V.N), MasterCard Inc (MA.N) and Delaware-based The Bancorp Inc (TBBK.O) to issue debit cards, lied about having money transmitter licenses and created a fictitious chief executive officer.

Lawyers for the three defendants could not be immediately reached for comment.

The three men were arrested last month and the FBI seized 91,000 “Ether units” consisting of digital funds currently worth $60 million, according to a release announcing the indictment.

Authorities around the world have attempted to rein in the global boom in trading cryptocurrencies - a form of digital money created and maintained by its users.

“As alleged, the defendants conspired to capitalize on investor interest in the burgeoning cryptocurrency market,”

Deputy U.S. Attorney Robert Khuzami said in the release. “Whether traditional or cutting-edge, investment vehicles can’t legally be peddled with falsehoods and lies.”

Would love to talk with you about Centra Tech for a podcast series I'm producing on the company. I DM'd you.