Australian court convicts John Bigatton, BitConnect promoter, of providing unlicensed financial advice between 2017 and 2018.

Aussie John Louis Anthony Bigatton, the national promoter of the BitConnect Ponzi scheme, has been convicted by the Sydney District Court of providing unlicensed financial advice, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) said on Monday.

In the Jul. 15 press release, the regulator said that Bigatton was released on a “recognisance to be of good behaviour for three years” after promoting BitConnect in Australia “in seminars and on social media” between late 2017 and early 2018.

“Providing unlicensed financial advice denies Australian investors access to key protections and undermines trust and confidence in Australia’s financial services industry.”

ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court

Founded in 2016, BitConnect created a token called BitConnect Coin that could be exchanged for Bitcoin (BTC) to participate in the exchange’s investment opportunities. ASIC says that in two of the seminars, Bigatton claimed that BitConnect is better than any term deposit out there and that BitConnect Coins “would increase in value to at least USD$1,000.”

Bigatton pleaded guilty to one criminal charge related to providing unlicensed financial services in mid-May, after admitting to doing so on behalf of another person. In January 2023, the U.S. federal district court in San Diego ruled that over 800 victims of the Bitconnect Ponzi scheme should receive a portion of a $17 million restitution recovered from the $2.4 billion scam.

Satish Kumbhani, the founder of BitConnect, was indicted in early 2022 by a U.S. court jury for allegedly orchestrating the international multi-billion crypto Ponzi scheme. In a regulatory filing, Richard Primoff, the attorney for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said that Kumbhani “has likely relocated from India to an unknown address in a foreign country.” His whereabouts remain unknown thus far.