Entrepreneur who sought to merge celebrities, social media and crypto faces fraud charges

NEW YORK (AP) — A California entrepreneur who sought to merge the bitcoin culture with celebrities and social media has been arrested on a fraud charge. Nader Al-Naji was arrested in Los Angeles on Saturday on a wire fraud charge. Civil claims were brought against him by federal authorities on Tuesday. Authorities say Al-Naji lied to investors who poured hundreds of millions of dollars into his BitClout venture. They say he promised that money would only be spent on the business but instead steered millions of dollars to himself, his family and some of his company’s workers. A lawyer for Al-Naji did not respond to a request for comment.