1st Global Capital’s Activities Spilled into Cryptocurrency and ICOs

Curious details are emerging in the wake of the 1st Global Capital bankruptcy and subsequent SEC charges. Among them is that $161,000 of company funds were used to purchase cryptocurrency.

Many of those purchases were made in February of this year for a total of $92,492. The cryptocurrency market has slumped since then. Bitcoin, for example, is down 35%.

In May, less than three months before 1st Global filed Chapter 11, a purchase of $61,000 in cryptocurrency was addressed to TraNexus Ireland LTD. TraNeXus is an Ireland-based travel technology blockchain company that is currently raising capital via an Initial Token Offering (aka an Initial Coin Offering, ICO). “TraNexus is committed to changing the way people travel and revitalizing the travel and tourism industry by making travel easier, greener, more valuable and more fun,” the company says of itself in a recent press release. 1st Global Capital owner Carl Ruderman is something of a vanguard in the global tourism business whose acumen includes ownership of Elite Traveler magazine.

Separately, 1st Global is alleged to have funded a $40 million merchant cash advance to an auto dealership in California. Though it remains unconfirmed, industry insiders say it wasn’t even a 1st position deal and that the dealership had multiple advances.

On Wednesday of this week, the SEC served a subpoena on a JPMorgan Chase in Miami demanding all documents and payments related to 1st Global, Ruderman, and his companies.