MoonPay Executives Might Have Fallen for $250,000 Trump-Themed Crypto Scam

MoonPay’s top executives may have been defrauded in a $250,000.00 Trump-themed crypto scam. None of the involved parties confirmed this story, but the DOJ is officially pursuing the scammer. Whoever this Nigerian scammer was targeting, he posed as Steve Witkoff to solicit donations for President $Trump’s Inauguration. Several pieces of circumstantial evidence fit together to put MoonPay in the middle. Did a Fake $Trump Scam Defraud MoonPay? Crypto scams are running rampant right now, with new victims losing money every day. However, a DOJ court complaint may have unintentionally revealed an important one. Apparently, a Nigerian scammer managed to defraud two anonymous users out of $250,000.00 with a fake $Trump connection, and some of MoonPay’s top executives might’ve been the targets. MoonPay is a popular centralized exchange that has recently been noteworthy for its charitable acts and coveted MiCA license. However, a recent report found credible evidence connecting MoonPay’s CEO and CFO to this alleged $Trump scam. Essentially, the DOJ’s complaint gives several important clues that fit together convincingly. The DOJ refers to two anonymous victims, “Ivan” and “Mouna.” First of all, MoonPay’s CEO is Ivan Soto-Wright, and Mouna Ammari Siala is its CFO. Furthermore, this DOJ complaint included the scammer’s wallet address, and public blockchain data connects it to one of Soto-Wright’s own wallets. Already, we have pertinent circumstantial evidence. Additionally, MoonPay has enjoyed major recent partnerships with President $Trump, acting as his meme coin’s official on-ramp. $TRUMP launched on the same week as Inauguration Day, and this event was an important component of the alleged scam. At the time, the firm made several posts celebrating the token’s release: So, how does this all fit together? The DOJ included a December 2024 screenshot from the Nigerian scammer’s email, including the address “ [email protected] ”. The first letter in “inaugural” was a lowercase “L”, spoofing a legitimate organization to pose as Steve Witkoff. Based on these fraudulent pretenses, the scammer solicited donations for $Trump’s Inauguration. Many crypto firms donated to President $Trump’s Inauguration, but MoonPay was apparently not one of them. In other words, a clear picture is presenting itself. MoonPay partnered with the President to help launch $TRUMP, and a scammer allegedly posed as his representative less than a month beforehand. If the victim “Ivan” really is MoonPay’s CEO, as evidenced by the blockchain data, then it seems like the company attempted to donate $250,000.00. The DOJ’s investigation has already attracted some criticism. $250,000.00 is a lot of money for one person, but several larger operations targeted US retail investors in the last month alone. Some experts allege that the DOJ is prioritizing a case involving a $Trump ally. Whether these DOJ favoritism claims are true or not, the core picture remains. It seems highly plausible that MoonPay’s top executives fell victim to a fake $Trump scam.