The United States has accused a Canadian man of fraud through a cryptocurrency investment scheme on Discord, involving more than $42 million

According to Bloomberg, U.S. prosecutors have charged a Canadian citizen, Nathan Gauvin, with orchestrating a fraudulent scheme that raised over $42 million through false advertising, targeting individual users on the chat application Discord, while claiming to invest the funds in traditional finance and cryptocurrency sectors.

He used most of the money for investor withdrawals, purchasing luxury jewelry, and paying off credit cards, and also fraudulently obtained $800,000 in credit from a fintech company for personal expenses. From May 2022 to October 2024, Gauvin and others lured investors to invest in Gray Digital Capital Management Inc. and its fund, Gray Fund, claiming to offer clients the opportunity to invest in a "hybrid TradFi and DeFi" fund.

He misrepresented his qualifications, the company's asset performance, presented altered bank statements, and even claimed that the Gray Fund had a return rate of 4384%. Authorities arrested Gauvin in the UK on Wednesday. It is currently unclear who his private attorney is. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also filed similar securities fraud charges, stating that Gauvin lied to them and submitted false documents when the regulatory agency began its investigation.