A Pickering man is facing charges after allegedly selling a fraudulent cryptocurrency to investors, Durham police said yesterday.
The accused, Eric Hentschel, age 31, of Chapman Court in Pickering, was arrested on Wednesday after a lengthy investigation.
The investigation revealed that he made a number of presentations to unsuspecting victims in the summer months of 2017. He was seeking investors for a startup cryptocurrency alternative to Bitcoin, called Alepy. He provided investors with a certificate of investment and promised them a cryptocurrency e-wallet that would give them access to their cryptocurrency online, said a media release.
After the money was received from investors, the Alepy cryptocurrency website was shut down. Two victims have been identified at this point in the investigation and they lost a total of $51,000 in the scam.
Hentschel has been charged with: Fraud Under $5,000; Fraud Over $5,000; Possession of Proceeds of Crime Under $5,000 and Possession of Proceeds of Crime Over $5,000. He was later released on an Undertaking.
Anyone with new information about this investigation is asked to contact Det. Hawkes of the West Division Criminal Investigations Bureau at 1-888-579-1520 ext. 2528.