Multiple
U.S.
states
have
ordered
GS
Partners
to
halt
operations,
accusing
the
company
of
defrauding
investors
in
a
number
of
crypto
schemes,
including
tokenized
pieces
of
a
Dubai
skyscraper
and
stakes
of
metaverse
property.
The
operation,
broadly
labeled
by
the
agencies
as
GS
Partners,
is
an
organization
that
includes
GSB
Gold
Standard
Bank
Ltd.,
Swiss
Valorem
Bank
Ltd.
and
GSB
Gold
Standard
Corporation
AG
–
all
said
to
be
controlled
by
Josip
Dortmund
Heit.
The
businesses
hired
sports
celebrities
such
as
former
boxer
Floyd
Mayweather
Jr.
and
footballer
Roberto
Carlos
to
get
attention
to
an
array
of
investments,
regulators
said.
The
affiliated
businesses
are
accused
of
violating
state
laws
when
they
“offered
and
sold
unqualified
securities
and
made
material
misrepresentations
and
omissions
to
investors
related
to
crypto
asset
investments,”
according
to
the
case
filed
Thursday
by
the
California
Department
of
Financial
Protection
and
Innovation.
Texas,
Alabama
and
other
jurisdictions
are
pursuing
similar
actions.
The
business
has
been
“broadly
perpetrating
various
fraudulent
investment
schemes
that
are
threatening
immediate
and
irreparable
public
harm,”
according
to
an
action
Thursday
from
the
Texas
State
Securities
Board.
“These
investment
schemes
are
often
marketed
as
a
unique
opportunity
to
earn
lucrative
profits
and
secure
generational
wealth
through
blockchain
technology,
a
metaverse,
liquidity
and
staking
pools,
a
tokenized
skyscraper
and
digital
assets
purportedly
convertible
to
physical
gold,”
the
Texas
agency
described
in
its
emergency
cease-and-desist
order.
One
part
of
the
business
offered
digital
assets
tied
to
the
metaverse’s
Lydian
World,
and
another
investments
in
a
36-story
“G999
Tower”
that
“radiates
majesty
as
it
shines
under
the
burning
sun”
in
Dubai,
according
to
marketing
information
described
in
the
Texas
case.
The
business
also
operated
a
multi-level
marketing
platform
that
offered
“MetaCertificates,”
regulators
said.
Heit
and
other
GS
Partners
executives,
including
Bruce
Innes
Wylde
Hughes
and
Dirc
Zahlmann,
are
directly
named
in
the
actions.
Neither
Heit
nor
the
company
immediately
responded
to
attempts
to
reach
them
through
business
sites
and
social
media.