Pastor Who Scammed Billions in Coins Claiming "God's Revelation" Says He Received Revelation to Use for Remodeling

"Coin Created by US Pastor Has No Value"
"Investors Lost Millions of Dollars"

A pastor in the United States has been sued for allegedly defrauding tens of billions of won in investment funds by selling cryptocurrency to followers, claiming to have received a revelation from God.

On the 28th (local time), the Colorado securities regulatory authorities and others announced that they recently filed a civil fraud lawsuit against the couple Elio-Kaitlin Regalado and their company INDX Coin LLC, who are accused of violating securities fraud prevention, licensing, and registration regulations under securities law.

Pastor Regalado posted a video on YouTube last April saying, "After months of prayer, I received a revelation from God," and "We are laying the rails for God's wealth transfer," announcing the launch of the cryptocurrency 'Index (INDX) Coin.' They even established a cryptocurrency exchange called 'Kingdom Wealth Exchange' and had their followers purchase INDX coins through it.

Investigators from the Colorado securities authorities found that they raised approximately $3.2 million (about 4.2816 billion won) from around 300 investors over about 10 months. The authorities stated, "The INDX coin they created has no liquidity and essentially no value," and "Investors suffered losses amounting to millions of dollars."

The Regalado couple reportedly used a significant portion of the investment funds to maintain a lavish lifestyle. According to CNN, they spent $1.3 million (about 1.7394 billion won) on expensive cars, jewelry, luxurious trips, and home remodeling. After the lawsuit was filed, Regalado admitted in an online video, "There is an allegation that Kaitlin and I took $1.3 million, and I want to come forward and say that allegation is true," adding, "Several hundred thousand dollars were used for remodeling the house that the Lord told us to do."

Meanwhile, Colorado Securities Commissioner Tung Chan emphasized, "Regalado exploited the trust and faith of his Christian community to sell essentially worthless cryptocurrency while promising them outrageous wealth," and warned, "New coins and exchanges can be easily created with open-source code, so consumers must be very cautious."