AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, July 12 (Our Colorado Times) — Federal prosecutors are moving to dismiss with prejudice the criminal case against Matthew Goettsche, the Colorado man accused of helping run BitClub Network, a cryptocurrency scheme the Justice Department says took in at least $722 million from investors.
Court filings referenced in recent reporting show Goettsche’s lawyers said on July 8 that they had reached an agreement in principle to resolve the pending charges. Prosecutors had told the court in February that a jury trial was necessary.
The Justice Department alleged that BitClub Network operated as a fraudulent cryptocurrency mining scheme from April 2014 through December 2019. According to the department, investors were promised returns from mining operations and were rewarded for recruiting new investors.
Goettsche was charged in a two-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury on Dec. 5, 2019, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and, along with others, conspiracy to offer and sell unregistered securities. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey announced the case days later.
In its 2019 press release, the Justice Department identified Goettsche as being from Lafayette, Colorado, and said he was arrested in Colorado. The department also identified co-defendant Jobadiah Sinclair Weeks as being from Arvada, Colorado, and said two other defendants remained at large at the time.
The public materials supplied in the case do not show a court order dismissing the charges, and the exact terms of any resolution were not disclosed in the filings referenced in the reporting.
