Throughout a courtroom session on December 2, held within the Southern District of New York, David Brend was handed a 120-month sentence by Decide Jennifer Rochon for his fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme tied to the IcomTech platform.
Along with the decade-long imprisonment, Brend faces monetary penalties, together with $40,000 in forfeiture. He’s required to report back to jail authorities by December 16.
IcomTech, posing as a reliable cryptocurrency mining and buying and selling agency, orchestrated a scheme that defrauded 1000’s of buyers of over $8 million between 2018 and 2019.
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Brend, together with different promoters, traveled throughout the nation to market the platform’s funding alternatives, promising “monetary freedom” to potential buyers. As an alternative of participating in real enterprise actions, the corporate utilized funds from new members to pay returns to earlier buyers—a basic Ponzi scheme tactic.
The promoters diverted massive parts of the victims’ funds for private enrichment, together with luxurious purchases and actual property acquisitions. In keeping with the US Legal professional’s workplace, they withdrew massive sums as money and spent cash on promotional occasions to additional the misleading enterprise.
In the meantime, Gustavo Rodriguez, one other determine within the fraud and the designer of IcomTech’s web site, obtained an eight-year sentence roughly a month earlier than Brend’s sentencing.
The sentencing of IcomTech’s promoter reveals the rising scrutiny round cryptocurrency’s darker aspect. In the meantime, Roger Ver, referred to as “Bitcoin Jesus,” is making headlines by difficult tax evasion allegations. How did the case unfold? Learn the total story.
Having accomplished a Grasp’s diploma in Economics, Politics, and Cultures of the East Asia area, Aaron has written scientific papers analyzing the variations between Western and Collective types of capitalism within the post-World Struggle II period.
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