Australian regulator gets approval to shut down 95 'hydra' firms involved in cryptocurrency and romance scams

Federal Court of Australia has approved an application by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to close 95 companies suspected of operating cryptocurrency trading and emotional fraud under the name "hydra". ASIC's liquidation application has been approved by the Federal Court of Australia on the basis of justice and fairness, after ASIC found that most of these companies were registered with false information.

ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court stated in a statement on April 8 that many of these companies claimed to provide "genuine services" when they were established, but in reality they are suspected of defrauding victims. After reviewing 48 "misconduct reviews" of 17 companies accused of assisting emotional fraud, Judge Angus Stewart stated in a court ruling on April 4: "The nature of these fraudulent activities appears to follow a common 'boiler room' pattern." The judgment was made on March 21.