The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged four entities—Cryptoaiml Ltd., Cryptoaiml Capital Foundation, TSAI Pro Ltd., and TSAI Capital Foundation—with running investment confidence scams that allegedly defrauded hundreds of retail investors of more than $15 million. The two complaints, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on September 29, accuse the Cryptoaiml entities of misappropriating roughly $12.5 million and the TSAI entities about $2.8 million.
According to the SEC, from at least August 2024 through March 2025, Cryptoaiml operators formed WhatsApp group chats, impersonated investment professionals, and issued supposedly AI-generated trading signals promising large profits. Investors were directed to open accounts on a fake trading platform and transfer crypto assets, but no real trades took place, displayed profits were fictitious, and withdrawal requests were blocked unless victims paid fraudulent advance fees.
The TSAI scheme, which ran from September 2024 to March 2025, advertised guaranteed returns from renting AI trading bots and offered extra earnings for recruiting others. The SEC says the bots did not exist and deposits were never used to generate returns. Both groups bolstered credibility by falsely claiming to be SEC-regulated; Cryptoaiml posted a falsified Form D filing, while TSAI displayed a phony agency certificate. The SEC has removed the Forms D filed by Cryptoaiml Ltd. and TSAI Pro Ltd. from its website.
David Woodcock, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, said the methods varied but the goal was the same: promise outsized returns, claim they were legitimate SEC-regulated entities, and then steal investor money. The action follows broader enforcement crackdowns, including CFTC charges over a $950 million forex Ponzi scheme.
