Two people were found guilty of promoting the IcomTech cryptocurrency pyramid scheme

[Teacher]

A New York jury found two former promoters of the IcomTech cryptocurrency pyramid scheme guilty of conspiracy to use electronic means of fraud. This is reported by the US Department of Justice.

According to the case file, Gustavo Rodriguez has been creating a website for IcomTech, which positioned itself as a mining and trading company, since mid-2018. David Brand, together with the founders of the project, attracted customers, guaranteeing daily profit.

In reality, IcomTech worked on the principle of a Ponzi scheme, paying dividends from deposits of new users. Most of the funds were used to buy real estate, travel and conduct "luxury presentations".

Clients saw an increase in funds through their personal account, but they could not withdraw them from the platform.

As complaints grew, IcomTech introduced the native Icoms token, but this only resulted in additional losses.

By the end of 2019, the pyramid collapsed.

According to the prosecutor's office, in total, "tens of thousands of people with damage worth tens of millions of dollars" suffered from IcomTech activities.

Brand and Rodriguez will be sentenced on June 27 and 28, respectively. They face up to 20 years in prison.

Also awaiting the final hearing of his case is the founder of the scheme, David Carmona, who pleaded guilty at the end of last year.

Former IcomTech executive Marco Ruiz Ochoa was sentenced to five years in prison. He confessed to defrauding investors in September 2023.

• Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/p...cipating-cryptocurrency-ponzi-scheme-icomtech

 

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Juan Tacuri, one of the main organizers of the cryptocurrency scheme Forcount, which raised about $8.4 million from Spanish-speaking investors around the world, pleaded guilty to fraud.

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said that 46-year-old resident of Florida Juan Tacuri (Juan Tacuri) pleaded guilty to one count of fraud with the use of electronic means of communication. The man faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Takuri agreed to return $4 million to his victims, as well as real estate purchased with investors ' funds.

Takuri and other Forc Account promoters have guaranteed investors that their investment will double within six months. Prosecutors allege that Thakuri traveled around the United States, arranging luxury exhibitions to find new investors, luring them with promises of "financial freedom." Later it turned out that the firm Forcount never engaged in mining and cryptotrading. Takuri and his partners used the money of new investors to pay early investors, and also squandered the money raised on real estate and a luxurious lifestyle.

In 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Thakuri and three other participants in the scheme with violating securities laws. In the same year, the US Department of Justice accused several citizens of organizing fraudulent IcomTech and Forcount cryptos, known as Weltsys, and money laundering. Thakuri's trial is scheduled for September 24 in New York. The verdict should be passed by District Judge Analisa Torres (Analisa Torres), who oversees the SEC's lawsuit against the Ripple crypto company.

 

[Man]

David Carmona, the founder of the Ponzi cryptocurrency scheme IcomTech, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit electronic fraud.

Carmona was the "mastermind" behind IcomTech, which "preyed on working-class people, promising them complete financial freedom in exchange for parting with their hard-earned money," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in an Oct. 4 statement.

The founder told investors that the funds would be invested in cryptocurrency trading and mining, and profits would double every six months, but that didn't happen, Williams said:

"IcomTech didn't really do anything like that. All this was a lie. And when the scheme collapsed, Carmona's victims were left with nothing. The time when Carmona deceived honest people has come to an end, and now he faces a long prison term".

In addition to 121 months in prison, Carmona was sentenced to three years of parole.

The IcomTech Ponzi scheme generated around $8.4 million in victims from mid-2018 to the end of 2019.

Carmona and other IcomTech promoters traveled frequently in the U.S. and abroad, where they held "luxury exhibitions" aimed at luring victims into a Ponzi scheme.

They often came to these events in expensive cars and luxurious clothes, showing off the money they earned to convince potential investors that they could achieve the same level of financial success.

But soon those who were lured began to have problems.

Many victims began to complain when they were unable to withdraw the "profits" they saw accumulated on the online portal and were often met with excuses, delays, and hidden fees from the IcomTech team, if they could withdraw at all.

As complaints grew, IcomTech offered a token called "Icoms" to raise extra money on the false claim that companies would accept it as payments.

Icoms was essentially worthless and led to further losses as IcomTech collapsed in 2019 and stopped making payments.

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Carmona pleaded guilty to electronic fraud conspiracy in December 2023.

Former IcomTech CEO Marco Ruiz Ochoa was also sentenced in January to five years in prison.

Meanwhile, in March, IcomTech promoters David Brand and Gustavo Rodriguez were found guilty of conspiracy to commit electronic fraud.

Source

 

[Man]

The U.S. Department of Justice announced that Juan Takuri, the senior promoter of the Forcount Ponzi scheme, which was later renamed Weltsys, was sentenced on October 15 to 20 years in prison.

According to a report from the Southern District of New York, Takuri was also ordered to pay $3,610,718 in compensation and sentenced to one year of supervised release after his jail time.

Prosecutors said Takuri's fraudulent scheme is targeting victims around the world, but mainly Hispanic communities.

The 240-month sentence handed down by Judge Analisa Torres represents the maximum sentence provided for by law. Following the ruling, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams remarked,

"Juan Takuri may have claimed to be involved in cutting-edge cryptocurrency investments, but he actually used one of the oldest tricks in the book – a Ponzi scheme".

In conclusion, the prosecutor said that the maximum sentence imposed by Judge Torres was "a stark reminder that in the long run, fraud does not pay off".

Forcount Ponzi.

Details According to the Department of Justice, Forcount's founders and promoters have told potential customers that the shell firm is a cryptocurrency mining and trading company. Takuri and others lured victims with promises of regular payments from alleged Forcount operations.

Prosecutors said Takuri and others held "luxury events" across the United States to generate interest in investment products that promised to double investors' capital in six months. However, there were no goods, and the promoters spent the money stolen from unsuspecting victims on luxury goods and real estate.

Court documents showed that customers reported problems with withdrawals back in 2018, and scammers stopped responding to customer complaints altogether in 2021. In 2022, the U.S. Attorney's Office filed charges against Francisli da Silva, the founder of Forcount.

In June 2024, Takuri pleaded guilty to electronic fraud and conspiracy, and in July, Antonia Pérez Hernandez and Néstor Núñez, who were also supporters of the Forcount scheme, pleaded guilty to electronic fraud and conspiracy.