WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An engineer working at SpaceX’s Elon Musk on Thursday pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit security fraud by selling inside tips on the ‘dark web’, the U.S. Department of Justice and Security and Exchange Commission ( SEC) said Thursday.
The case was the first in which the SEC instituted enforcement action over the breach of securities on the dark web.
James Roland Jones of Redondo Beach, California, faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison, the Department of Justice said. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
According to the agencies, from 2016 to at least 2017, Jones conspired with another anonymous person to gain access to various dark web markets, including a website claiming to be an insider trading forum, in search of material, non-public information to to use its own. security traded.
The dark web enables users to have anonymous access to the internet and is often used to host websites that support illegal activities. Jones could not be reached for comment.
Jones has also devised a plan to sell what he falsely claims are insider tips on the dark web, the agencies said. Several users who pay for bitcoin bought these tips and eventually traded based on the information Jones provided.
Reported by Michelle Price; edited by Richard Pullin