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Remember CYNK? A New Report Says It Might Be Tied To A $500 Million Money-Laundering Scheme

Sep 11, 2014, 22:15 IST

CYNK Technology - the (sort of) social media company that earlier this summer saw its market cap rocket up to more than $6 billion in just a few days despite having no revenue, no assets, and one employee - may be a tied to a $500 million money-laundering and stock-manipulation scheme, according to a report on Thursday by Bloomberg's Zeke Faux.

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Faux reports that this week, U.S. prosecutors brought charges against a group of men that worked on the same floor, of the same office building in Belize that Cynk listed as its address in regulatory filings.

Faux reports:

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"U.S. prosecutors chasing an alleged $500 million money-laundering and penny-stock manipulation scheme brought charges this week in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, against a group of men who worked on the same floor of a Belize office building that Cynk listed as its address.

While the U.S. case, stemming from a two-year undercover operation, doesn't mention Cynk, documents obtained by Bloomberg News show that some of the defendants held millions of Cynk shares for clients in shell companies they helped create."

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Reporting by Business Insider back in July tied CYNK to a number of individuals over a number of years, including Javier Romero, who was most recently listed as CYNK's CEO and lone employee.

However, Romero told Business Insider at the time: "According to records, one Javier Romero on June 18, 2014 resigned as President and Secretary and Director of CYNK Technologies, whereupon on Mr. Howard Berkowitz filled these vacancies. At this time, the stock was around $2 per share."

Trading in shares of CYNK was halted by the SEC after the bizarre rise in CYNK shares was widely reported, and through the summer the company lost nearly all of its value.

As of Thursday, shares appeared to be trading hands just a few times per day and were valued at around $0.25.

Here's a chart of the 2014 rise and fall of CYNK shares.

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Read Faux's whole report over at Bloomberg.

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