United

Solana

Bitcoin

A California court has ordered five individuals involved in IcomTech’s “Ponzi” scheme to pay over $5 million for fraud and misappropriating stolen funds through a fake Bitcoin trading scheme. 
The default judgment order found David Carmona, Juan Arellano Parra, Moses Valdez and David Brend liable for all violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulations alleged in the complaint, while Marco A. Ruiz Ochoa was issued a consent order, the CFTC <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/9017-24" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">said</a> in a Dec. 11 statement.
The default judgment was made on Oct. 21 from the CFTC’s lawsuit filed on May 24, 2023.
The five fraudulently solicited more than $1 million from 190 individuals in the United States and other countries after falsely promising them they would invest their funds into Bitcoin (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price">BTC</a>) and other cryptocurrencies through their non-existent mining and trading platform. Instead, they misappropriated a large portion of victims’ funds, estimated at <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/charges-laid-over-alleged-crypto-mining-ponzis-that-netted-8-4m" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">around $8.4 millio</a><a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/charges-laid-over-alleged-crypto-mining-ponzis-that-netted-8-4m" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/charges-laid-over-alleged-crypto-mining-ponzis-that-netted-8-4m">n</a> in December 2022.
Carmona, Arellano Parra, Valdez, and Brend will each pay a $1 million civil monetary penalty and also, along with Ochoa, pay about $1 million in restitution to the victims — totaling over $5 million.
All five individuals were permanently banned from registering with the CFTC and from trading in any CFTC-regulated markets.
It comes as Carmona, the founder and “mastermind” behind IcomTech’s Ponzi, was sentenced to <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/founder-of-crypto-ponzi-icomtech-receives-10-year-prison-sentence" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">10 years imprisonment</a> for conspiracy to commit wire fraud in October.
<figure>
 <img alt="IcomTech execs set to pay over $5M for fake Bitcoin trading scheme" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-12/0193b8d1-f3fb-7a07-95a1-89c78c94bf6e" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Source: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/Cointelegraph/status/1842467385451688295" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://x.com/Cointelegraph/status/1842467385451688295">Cointelegraph</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
Rodriguez was <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/icomtech-promoter-sentenced-crypto-fraud" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">sentenced to eight years</a> on Oct. 31 for his involvement, while <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/icomtech-promoter-david-brend-sentenced-prison" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Brend received a 10-year sentence</a> on Dec. 2.
Ochoa was also <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/icomtech-ceo-sentenced-wire-fraud" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">sentenced to five years of prison</a> time in January for conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Related: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-fraudsters-used-victim-funds-buy-shark-tank-jailed" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Jailed crypto scammers blew stolen funds on shark tank, hookers: Report</a>
Operating between mid-2018 and the end of 2019, IcomTech promised investors a 100% return on their investment every six weeks, and its operators would often travel through the US and overseas, hosting “lavish expos” to lure victims into the<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/explained/ponzi-vs-pyramid-schemes-whats-the-difference" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">&nbsp;Ponzi scheme.</a>
They often arrived at these events in expensive cars, wearing luxurious clothing while boasting about their profits to convince potential investors they could reach the same level of financial success.
Magazine:<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/solana-champion-mert-mumtaz-fud-sol-most-helius/" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null"> The rise of Mert Mumtaz: ‘I probably FUD Solana the most out of anybody’</a>

IcomTech execs set to pay over $5M for fake Bitcoin trading scheme

Cointelegraph

Other articles published on Dec 12, 2024

Trump’s Tariffs (TRUMPTAR) Solana Memecoin Will Explode Over 16,000% Before Exchange Listings, Wh...

Gate Web3 TonVibe2024 Ecosystem Season Report: Over 1.61 Million New Users, 450,000+ New Addresse...

Top 3 Solana Meme Coins You Can’t Miss This December 2024

q/acc Goes Live on Polygon zkEVM to Transform Token Launches (12 Dec)

Bitcoin bulls ignore PPI shock as whales fuel BTC price run to $102K

Dogecoin Price at Risk: Analysts Predict 20% Decline

Join our free newsletter for daily crypto updates!