One Colorado pastor has taken his faith-based cryptocurrency mission abroad while a Denver District Court issued a preliminary injunction and froze his assets. Eli Regalado, and his wife Kaitlyn, continue to face civil fraud charges back home.
As previously reported by the Denver Gazette, the Regalados face charges of allegedly creating and promoting a cryptocurrency called INDXcoin within Christian communities, promising wealth based on divine guidance, resulting in losses for investors.
In the fallout, authorities are seeking relief for those investors and advise caution against what they allege is securities fraud.
Regalado did not appear for the hearing to review the motion in Denver last month. Instead, the Colorado pastor was in Zambia attending the “Glory Shift Conference” at the “Gifted Faith Ministry” as shown in photos and posts from the ministry’s Facebook page. The Denver District Court granted a preliminary injunction and asset freeze against the couple.
“Misuse of funds is a serious charge in this matter,” said Colorado Securities Commissioner Tung Chan in a news release. “We are really happy with the Court’s order today. Freezing assets will protect what’s left in the accounts from further dissipation, and the injunction will stop the Regalados from selling any more worthless coins.”
As per the initial motion for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) and the complaint lodged by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, an investigation conducted by the Colorado Division of Securities revealed that between June 2022 and April 2023, INDXcoin amassed nearly $3.4 million from more than 300 individuals. The complaint contends that Regalado specifically focused on Christian communities in Denver, asserting that he received direct divine guidance indicating that investors would attain wealth by investing in INDXcoin.
The Regalados are alleged to have pocketed $1.3 million from investors for themselves, according to court documents.
“Out of that 1.4 million, half a million went to the IRS, and a few hundred thousand dollars went to a home remodel that the Lord told us to do,” Regalado said in a video posted to his website, that has since been deleted. “Money would come in, we’d tithe, we’d sow. So, we were just always under the impression that God was going to provide, that the source was never-ending. That God was doing a new thing and that we had nothing to worry about.”
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”.
Here’s a supercut. pic.twitter.com/scKpF8nyrT
— Molly White (@molly0xFFF) January 21, 2024
The Colorado Securities Commission, as well as the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, instead allege that the INDXcoin is worthless; investors have lost millions; and defendants have dissipated investor funds to support their lavish lifestyle.
“We allege that Mr. Regalado took advantage of the trust and faith of his own Christian community and that he peddled outlandish promises of wealth to them when he sold them essentially worthless cryptocurrencies,” said Commissioner Chan. “New coins and exchanges are easy to create with open source code, and we want to remind consumers to be very skeptical.”
The Colorado Securities Commission requests that if anyone has invested with INDXCoin or any of Eli Regalado’s other entities, to contact the Colorado Division of Securities at dora_SecuritiesWebsite@state.co.us or by calling (303) 894-2320.
