In something that won’t come as a surprise to most followers of the Altcoin space, the founders of yet another cryptocurrency have been linked to Ponzi schemes.

Dan Anderson and Atif Kamran, the founders of LEOCoin, have been linked to UNAICO Pakistan, an IT Services company that was accused of running a Ponzi scheme by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan in 2012.

Anderson was the CEO of UNAICO at that time and Kamran made appearances on behalf of the company in its promotional materials. Kamran was also placed on the Pakistan Government’s Exit Control List, a system that prevents him leaving the country, for his alleged involvement in SiteTalk, a site owned by UNAICO.

Is LEOCoin a scam?

LEOCoin launched officially March 25th with claims that it was already the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency (the biggest after Bitcoin) and with the more remarkable claim that it launched with 131,175 merchants accepting the currency, a figure that has never been so much as once confirmed by the founders with something as simple as a list of who accepts it.

But it does get worse: it’s one thing to falsely pump your new Altcoin, it’s another entirely different matter to sell it using a pyramid scheme structure that rewards users for recruiting other users.

Pyramid scam expert William Keep is quoted as telling one publication:

“The most bothersome aspects of the LEO program combine messages of: a) almost unlimited opportunity, b) anyone can be successful, c) indirect (and unverifiable) endorsements, d) rewards derived by recruiting others, and e) personal financial freedom within reach” Keep said. “The presence of multi-generation income and the recognition of an upline (and therefore a downline) without many specific in terms of the process raises some concerns.”

If some of those terms aren’t familiar, they’re standard in multi-level marketing (MLM)/ pyramid scams.

With its dubious promises, founders and even selling program, LEOCoin is one Altcoin best kept away from.