PANews reported on December 11th, citing Bloomberg, that U.S. prosecutors have charged a Canadian citizen, Nathan Gauvin, with orchestrating a fraud scheme that raised over $42 million through false advertising. The scheme targeted individual users on the Discord messaging app, claiming investments in traditional finance and cryptocurrency. Gauvin allegedly used most of the money for investor withdrawals, luxury jewelry purchases, and credit card payments. He also allegedly obtained $800,000 in fraudulent credit from a fintech company for personal expenses. From May 2022 to October 2024, Gauvin and others lured investors into investing in Gray Digital Capital Management Inc. and its Gray Fund, claiming it offered clients the opportunity to invest in a fund that "integrated TradeFi and DeFi." He misrepresented his qualifications, company assets and performance, presented falsified statements, and even claimed the Gray Fund had a return of 4384%.

Authorities arrested Gauvin in the UK on Wednesday. His private lawyer could not be immediately identified. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also filed similar securities fraud charges, alleging that Gauvin lied to the regulator and submitted false documents when the investigation began.