SEC Charges Businessman Who Orchestrated $33M Digital Asset Scheme

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently filed charges against Michael Ackerman, alleging that the Ohio businessman defrauded about 150 investors (including many physicians) in a $33 million digital asset scheme.

The SEC claims that Ackerman told investors that he had created an algorithm that enabled extraordinary profits from cryptocurrency trades. According to the SEC’s complaint, Ackerman ultimately raised $33 million for investment in his Q3 Trading Club and Q3 I LP. Many of the investors were physicians.

The SEC alleges that Ackerman misrepresented his trading performance, as well as his use and the safety of investor moneys. The SEC also claims that Ackerman created false computer screenshots of Q3’s trading account showing that Q3 held hundreds of millions of dollars of assets, when the account, in actuality according to the SEC, held only $6 million or less. Finally, the SEC alleges that Ackerman misappropriated over $7 million of investor moneys to purchase a house, expensive jewelry, and multiple cars.

Eric I. Bustillo, director of the SEC’s Miami Regional Office, commented: “As alleged in our complaint, Ackerman lured investors, many in the medical profession, into falsely believing that he generated extraordinary profits from his algorithmic trading strategy. Ackerman exploited popular interest in digital assets as a means to obtain millions of dollars for his personal use.”

If you have suffered losses in this scheme, please contact Morgan & Morgan’s securities and investor attorneys at 888-871-0783 for a free consultation.

Morgan and Morgan’s securities attorneys are part of the firm’s Business Trial Group. The Business Trial Group is part of the largest contingency law firm in the nation, with more than 700 lawyers and offices across the country.

The Business Trial Group helps investors recover their monetary losses on a contingency basis, which means our clients only pay for results. We regularly fight for justice against brokerage firms, investment advisory firms, and banks, and have helped investors recover tens of millions of dollars of investment losses.