Despite ignorance not being an excuse commit crime, it never seems to stop promoters of fraudulent schemes from trotting it out when caught.
The latest scammers to claim they knew nothing of the true nature of the scams they promoted are Scott Chandler, Louis Gatto and Eric Pinkston.
Chandler, Gatto, Pinkston and Thomas Dluca were sued by the FTC for promoting the
Bitcoin Funding Team
gifting scam and My7Network. Chandler was sued individually for promotion of the
JetCoin
Ponzi scheme.
All three defendants have had their
assets frozen through a Temporary Restraining Order
.
Following a Magistrate report that
recommended a preliminary injunction be issued
to make the freeze permanent, Chandler, Gatto and Pinkston have filed objections to the report.
The fourth defendant, Thomas Dluca, has thus far failed to filed an objection.
In his objection Eric Pinkston describes himself as
a small-town farmer from Elmer, Missouri with a population of 92 people.
He works for a cattle operation in the Mid-West where he manages livestock and lives a modest blue-collar lifestyle.
He does not own the land he manages nor the cattle that live off the land.
He collects a paycheck for managing the livestock and has a line of credit with Farm Credit Services (FCS) Financial that he uses for expenses related to managing the cattle ranch and 30 to 40 cattle of his own each summer that he sells annually in the fall.
Pinkston argues he should be exempt from a preliminary injunction because he
was not a developer, administrator or otherwise have any authority to bind the Bitcoin Funding Team business.
Most importantly, Mr. Pinkston never had any ownership interest in the Bitcoin Funding Team.
Mr. Pinkston’s involvement and benefit pale in comparison to the millions alleged to have been made by the developers and main benefactors of the Bitcoin Funding Team.
In a nutshell, Pinkston’s argument can be boiled down to “others were scamming worse, so why am I being sued?”
Mr. Pinkston joined Bitcoin Funding Team as a regular member and later felt that he, too, had been misinformed.
Because of his blue-collar upbringing Mr. Pinkston was asked to take-part in informational or testimonial calls about his experiences with cryptocurrency.
Mr. Pinkston was a mere guest on those testimonial calls where his blue-collar background was exploited by sophisticated businessmen to show others that anyone could invest in cryptocurrency.
He was also asked by the developers of the Bitcoin Funding Team to introduce two former football players he knew to provide moving testimonials.
Ultimately, Mr. Pinkston became a victim of the ineffective matrix system as anyone else.
He grossed 15 Bitcoin of which 11.6 was paid forward into the matrix for a total gain of 3.5 bitcoin when it was worth a lot less than today.
Regardless of the fiat value of bitcoin and despite having scammed people out of 3.5 BTC, Pinkston attempts to present himself as a Bitcoin Funding Team
victim.
🤖 Quick Answer
Who are Chandler, Gatto, and Pinkston?Scott Chandler, Louis Gatto, and Eric Pinkston are defendants in an FTC lawsuit for promoting fraudulent schemes including the Bitcoin Funding Team gifting scam, My7Network, and JetCoin Ponzi scheme. Their assets were frozen via Temporary Restraining Order following allegations of involvement in these schemes.
What objections did the defendants file?
Chandler, Gatto, and Pinkston filed objections to a Magistrate's report recommending a preliminary injunction to make their asset freeze permanent. They claim ignorance regarding the fraudulent nature of the schemes they promoted.
What legal action has been taken against them?
The FTC sued all defendants for promoting Bitcoin Funding Team and My7Network scams. Chandler faced additional individual charges for promoting JetCoin
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