BTC Mining Factory Derek Deresh Kumar Deresh Michael Lajtay Benedict Petit Ponzi Scheme/ Fraud Internet

This scam was perpetrated by individuals (Derek Deresh & Michael Lajtay) fraudulently represented business opportunity to invest in a Bitcoin mining scheme ostensibly in Iceland.  Such funds were unavailable for a short-term lock-up period (45-90 days), and then the account balances would accrue a profit based on their ability to "mine" and "mint" new Bitcoins.

All of Deresh's and Lajtay's fraudulent misrepresentations regarding returns ROI's, etc... are captured and forever memorialized in their text messages to each and every victim --  which meets the Federal threshold for investigation and prosecution under 18 U.S. Code § 1343 "fraud by wire".  Deresh, who also goes by the alias of Kumar Deresch, who has already fled the country... presumably to his native Sri Lanka

The btcminingfactory.com website featured a "live chat" agent-- ostensibly in Iceland, and was responsive to potential investors-- even though the website was quasi-anonymous: it stated that they were based in Iceland, and that the head of the operation was a "Thomas Vogel" a fictitious big international wheeler-dealer with his own Global Challenger (according to Deresh), but somewhere around the first week of October '18, the "live chat" agent disappeared off the website, and the only way to contact the company... was to send an email to support.  These emails ceased to be answered, however one of the victims received this response: 

This scam could potentially affect/victimize hundreds of investors and millions of dollars being swindled by Deresh and/or Lajtay working as a team. Deresh took off to Asia (probably Sri Lanka where he's from), and Michael Lajtay-- who is still in California.

Lajtay will stick around in the U.S. because (a) he's from California-- it's his home; (b) he thinks he is immune from the law, and has to support his livery of expensive sports cars-- like his Porsche, and his Lamborghini; and (c) in true con-artist fashion-- he presents himself as only an investor, and also a victim of BTC Mining Factory ("BTC-MF"), but he's already peddling his new scam: 247gains.co/

There is a website to provide victim support-- bu one of the victims: https://btcminingfactory.info that will hopefully be found by many of the victims.