The Australian securities and investments commission (ASIC), which is that country’s version of America’s Securities and Exchange Commission, has executed an asset freeze on Bitconnect’s John Bigatton. Bigatton who is a director and shareholder at Bitconnect has also been barred from traveling pending investigations into the Bitconnect scam.
Bitconnect as a whole is under the microscope, with a few international bodies such as the FBI heavily involved. Investigators are also keenly looking into several individuals who include the likes of Trevon James who is a known Bitcoin pumper and an active figure on social media.
As the case unravels, Bigatton has to divulge all of his assets to the Australian federal authorities which include his crypto holdings as well as any exchange accounts; this is according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
The story of the now defunct Bitconnect puts a huge blemish on John Bigatton’s career and profile having served as a successful financial advisor in the past. According to a class action lawsuit filed in Florida, he and several other Bitconnect promoters had promised investors up to 40 percent in returns, only to end up disappointing.
A company suspected to be Bigatton’s known as JB’s investment management is also on the ASIC’s radar. Bigatton’s wife Madeline is that company’s sole shareholder. The ASIC has also frozen all the assets owned by the company pending investigations.
It all doesn’t end there though, Bigatton’s wife and sole shareholder of JB’s investment management, has been missing for a while. Police are currently treating the matter as a case of a missing person and a possible homicide. Developments concerning her whereabouts will definitely come, with the possibility of a homicide or a case of her disappearing to another country with a sizable amount of assets in order to escape scrutiny.
Madeline had voiced support for her troubled husband days before her disappearance stating;
“It really cuts me up as John doesn’t have a single bad bone in his body and would only be involved in something if he truly believed it would be a positive impact in people’s lives”
Oddly, Bigatton did not seem disturbed after her disappearance and proceeded to post a family selfie just days after the fact.
With a lot of questions still lingering, all that’s left is for one to hope that Bitconnect victims are compensated and for Bigatton’s wife to be found, unhurt.
