- Online pastor Eli Regalado was charged with fraud for allegedly selling a deceptive crypto.
- Colorado Securities Commission accuses Regalado of exploiting the trust of his Christian community, raising $3.2 million through the Kingdom Wealth Exchange.
Online pastor Eli Regalado claims he sold over $3 million worth of tokens to his community because he believed “the Lord” instructed him to give his followers a 10X return.
Charged with fraud for marketing a “worthless” cryptocurrency, a Colorado-based online pastor, Eli Regalado asserts that he engaged in the activity solely because he felt divinely guided to offer his followers a “10X” return. In a peculiar 9-minute video posted on INDXcoin’s official website, Regalado, the founder of INDXcoin, acknowledges the truth behind the charges against him and his partner.
According to the Colorado Securities Commission’s statement, Regalado and his partner Kaitlin were charged with fraud for their involvement in creating and promoting a deceptive token called “INDXcoin” to their followers. The commission alleges that Regalado exploited the trust of his Christian community and made extravagant promises of wealth by selling them essentially worthless cryptocurrencies, targeting Christian communities in Denver and asserting that God assured him investors would prosper by investing in INDXcoin.
An online pastor was charged in CO for a $1.3 million crypto scam. He's released a 9-minute-long video explaining that the Lord told him to sell a cryptocurrency with no clear exit", and spend some of the proceeds on "a home remodel the Lord told us to do".
— Molly White (@molly0xFFF) January 21, 2024
Here's a supercut. pic.twitter.com/scKpF8nyrT
Between June 2022 and April 2023, INDXcoin purportedly raised almost $3.2 million from over 300 investors through the Kingdom Wealth Exchange platform. Most of these funds were reportedly obtained from the online-only church, Victorious Grace Church, where Regalado serves as a pastor.
Regalado admitted that half of the funds raised went to the IRS for taxes, and a significant portion was allocated to a divine-backed home remodeling project. He claimed that “the Lord” instructed them to remodel the home. Regalado shut down the Kingdom Wealth Exchange on November 1 of the previous year, citing insufficient finances to sustain internal servers and claiming he and his partner were on the brink of poverty.
Despite acknowledging financial difficulties, the lawsuit filed by Commissioner Tung Chan alleges that the duo spent a substantial portion of the $1.3 million on cosmetic dentistry, luxury handbags, snowmobiles, home renovations, and luxury vacations.
