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Sujha Sundararajan
Author
Sujha Sundararajan
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The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has charged Grant Colthup, the former CEO of collapsed cryptocurrency platform Mine Digital with fraud.
The regulator, on Tuesday, brought fraud charges against Colthup, linked to an A$2.2 million ($1.46 million) transaction in July 2022.
The accused appeared at the Magistrates Court at Ipswich charged with one count of fraud, the announcement read.
Per the ASIC’s allegations, a customer of Mine Digital paid $2.2 million for Bitcoin and never received any cryptocurrency. The customer paid ACCE Australia Pty, which operated the crypto exchange platform Mine Digital, between May 2019 and September 2022. Colthup was the sole director of ACCE Australia.
“ASIC alleges that Colthup used the funds to pay liabilities of ACCE and/or purchase cryptocurrency for others.”
The ASIC noted that the Magistrates Court at Ipswich has adjourned the case to December 16, 2024.
ASIC Charges Relate to July 2022 Transaction
The Queensland-based crypto exchange collapsed and was handed to liquidator Bradley Tonks, of PKF, on 1 December 2022, ASIC noted. Mine Digital reportedly collapsed due to creditors’ voluntary liquidation of the company.
The Australian Financial Review reported previously that Tonks sought legal action against Colthup to compensate creditors for the losses.
Following his initial 2022 investigations, Tonks wrote to creditors that investments made by clients into cryptos “do not appear to have been recorded on the company’s balance sheet.”
Further, Tonks added that prior to the administration, significant digital assets may have been transferred out of the company to accounts that hold limited records.
When Mine Digital was launched in 2019, Colthup promised to “set a new standard in the Australian cryptocurrency market”. The firm later partnered with Hong Kong’s blockchain platform provider BC Group to offer insured custody, trading solutions, among others.
