Saitama (Saitama Inu)
A dog-themed crypto token (Saitama Inu, plus the related SaitaRealty) that the SEC and DOJ charged in October 2024 as a fraudulent, manipulated securities offering. Promoters allegedly hyped a 'Saitama ecosystem' while secretly dumping holdings and hiring market makers (Gotbit, ZM Quant) to fake volume.
Also known as: Saitama, Saitama Inu, SaitaRealty
Note: The defendants are charged (SEC civil and DOJ criminal); the allegations have not been adjudicated. Several are contesting jurisdiction/extradition.
Summary
Saitama Inu ("Saitama") was a dog-themed crypto asset launched around June 2021 that promoters claimed would create "passive income" and promote financial literacy; a related token, SaitaRealty, supposedly tokenized real estate. The SEC alleges the offerings were unregistered securities and that the promoters manipulated the markets to create a false appearance of organic demand. [1][2]
The scheme
Per the SEC, the promoters made false statements about a "Saitama ecosystem" of products to inflate the token's value, publicly claimed to be buying/holding while secretly selling large amounts, and hired "market-manipulation-as-a-service" firms — ZM Quant and Gotbit Consulting — to generate artificial volume. At its peak, Saitama's promoters described a multi-billion-dollar company. [1][2]
Charges
In October 2024 the SEC charged Russell Armand, Maxwell Hernandez, Manpreet Singh Kohli, and Nam Tran; the DOJ brought parallel criminal charges (conspiracy to commit market manipulation, unlicensed money transmitting, and wire fraud). Kohli, a UK/India resident, has been fighting extradition. [1][2]
Bracketed numbers refer to the numbered sources listed below.
People & entities involved
Sources (2)
See also
$MELANIA tokenMarket manipulationA Solana memecoin announced by Melania Trump on Jan 19, 2025. Per FT analysis, ~24 wallets bought in minutes before the public announcement and netted ~$99.6M as retail piled in; the token then fell 95%+. Early buys were traced to wallets linked to $LIBRA figure Hayden Davis. No charges have been filed.
$TRUMP tokenMarket manipulationA Solana memecoin launched days before Donald Trump's second inauguration (Jan 2025). Trump-linked entities hold 80% of supply and earned $320M+ in fees while ~760,000 mostly-retail wallets lost money; a 'dinner with the president' promotion for top holders drew conflict-of-interest scrutiny. The 'scam' label is contested and no charges have been filed.
This page was last updated on Jun 15, 2026. View revision history.
