Blessings Thru Crypto’—A Fraudulent Scheme Unmasked

A married couple from Tennessee, Michael and Amanda Griffis, have been ordered to pay nearly $7 million in penalties after orchestrating a fraudulent crypto-based commodity pool scheme, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced on Thursday.

According to a September 25 CFTC press release, the Griffises convinced 145 investors to contribute approximately $6.5 million into a program called Blessings Thru Crypto, promising that the funds would be used to trade commodity futures on the Apex Trading Platform under the guidance of a mysterious figure known only as “Coach Wendy.”

In reality, the commodity pool was a sham, mirroring the operations of an overseas exchange. More concerning, the supposed mastermind “Coach Wendy” remains unidentified, leaving one of the biggest mysteries of the case unresolved.

More than $4 million of the funds were funneled to the illegitimate exchange and quickly dispersed across multiple offshore trading accounts, according to regulatory findings.

The remaining funds were misappropriated for the Griffises’ personal expenses, including paying off debts and purchasing consumer goods, further deepening the breach of investor trust.

Through a consent order filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, the Griffises agreed to pay $5,528,121 in restitution to defrauded victims, along with a $1,355,232 civil penalty. In total, the financial penalties exceed $6.8 million.

Additionally, the couple faces a lifetime ban on trading or registering with the CFTC, and they are prohibited from violating the Commodity Exchange Act or any related CFTC regulations in the future.

“This case is a stark warning to be cautious about whom you trust with your money,” said Charles Marvine, Acting Chief of the CFTC’s Division of Enforcement’s Retail Fraud and General Enforcement Task Force. “If an investment opportunity seems too good to be true, it almost certainly is—for you and anyone you bring along.”