SEC Charges Former New Jersey Corrections Officer with Crypto Fraud Scheme Targeting Law Enforcement Personnel

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged former New Jersey State Correctional Police Officer John A. DeSalvo with fraudulently raising funds through the unregistered offering of the Blazar Token, a crypto asset security he created but that collapsed in May 2022. The SEC also charged DeSalvo with misappropriating investor funds, much of which he sent to his personal crypto asset wallets and used to pay for a bathroom renovation. According to the SEC’s complaint, from the Blazar Token’s launch in November 2021 to its eventual collapse, DeSalvo raised at least $620,000 from approximately 220 investors. As the complaint alleges, DeSalvo claimed that the Blazar Token would replace existing state pension systems and falsely told investors that Blazar Token was registered with the SEC; that he had arranged for Blazar Token to be purchased by automatic payroll deduction; and that investors were guaranteed to receive extraordinary returns.