Lee is now charged with one count of conspiracy, two counts of mail fraud, one count of wire fraud and three counts of engaging in monetary transactions of property obtained by crime.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced charges against Bryan Lee for his alleged involvement in CoinDeal, an investment fraud scheme that defrauded more than 10,000 victims of more than $45 million.

According to court documents, Lee allegedly conspired with Neil Chandran and others to defraud investors in a cryptocurrency and Metaverse company controlled by Chandran and operated under the banner "ViRSE," Including Free Vi Lab, Studio Vi Inc., ViDelivery Inc., ViMarket Inc. ., and Skalex USA Inc.

Neil Chandran allegedly misled investors by falsely promising sky-high returns on the premise that his company was about to be acquired by a consortium of wealthy buyers.

Bryan Lee faces up to 20 years in prison on each count of fraud

Bryan Lee was the nominal owner and director of ViMarket and received instructions from Chandran on how to allocate funds received from investors to ViMarket's bank accounts. The two defendants allegedly misappropriated millions of dollars of investor funds and used them to buy luxury cars and real estate.

Neil Chandran was arrested in June 2022. The U.S. Department of Justice indicted Chandran in U.S. District Court in Nebraska on three counts of wire fraud and two counts of illegal proceeds in monetary transactions, stemming from his involvement in CoinDeal.

Michael Glaspie, of the fraudulent marketing "CoinDeal," pleaded guilty in February 2023 to one count of wire fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 16.

Lee is now charged with one count of conspiracy, two counts of mail fraud, one count of wire fraud and three counts of engaging in monetary transactions of property obtained by crime.

If convicted, Lee faces up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy, and up to 10 years in prison for engaging in illegal monetary transactions.

The SEC also sued CoinDeal

Earlier this year, the SEC announced civil charges against individuals and corporate entities involved in the fraud, accusing them of raising more than $45 million by selling unregistered securities to tens of thousands of investors worldwide.

At least since January, Neil Chandran, Garry Davidson, Michael Glaspie, Amy Mossel, Linda Knott, AEO Publishing Inc, Banner Co-Op, Inc and BannersGo, LLC was indicted for making false and misleading statements to investors about the alleged value of CoinDeal from 2019 to 2022.

The defendants claimed that investors could make handsome returns by investing in CoinDeal, a blockchain technology that would be sold to a group of well-known and wealthy buyers for trillions of dollars.

However, the sale of CoinDeal never took place and no distribution was made to CoinDeal investors, the SEC said, adding that the defendants collectively misappropriated millions of dollars of investor funds for personal use.