Morgenthau admitted to using the stolen funds to trade meme stocks and cryptocurrencies. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Morgenthau with orchestrating a scheme to steal the funds from African Gold Acquisition Corporation and Strategic Metals Acquisition Corporation between June 2021 and July 2022.
Morgenthau concealed unauthorized withdrawals by falsifying African Gold's bank account statements and presenting them to auditors for African Gold's SEC filing. He faces a possible prison sentence of six to seven years and has been ordered to pay a penalty of $5.11 million and an equal amount in restitution.
SEC Committed to Rooting Out Fraud in SPAC Market
On Tuesday, Daniel Williams, the United States Attorney of the Southern District of New York, announced that Cooper Morgenthau, the former CFO of two SPACs, had pleaded guilty to embezzling millions of dollars from public and private investors to trade meme stocks and cryptocurrencies. Williams stated that the U.S. Office is committed to protecting Main Street investors from abuses on Wall Street by rooting out fraud in the SPAC market.
The SEC charged Morgenthau with orchestrating a scheme to steal the funds from African Gold Acquisition Corporation and Strategic Metals Acquisition Corporation between June 2021 and July 2022. Morgenthau concealed unauthorized withdrawals by falsifying African Gold's bank account statements and presenting them to auditors for African Gold's SEC filing. He faces a possible prison sentence of six to seven years and has been ordered to pay a penalty of $5.11 million and an equal amount in restitution.
