33-Year-Old Gets Prison Sentence for $20 Million Crypto Fraud
- The authorities are now identifying the victims and are in the process of returning the stolen funds.
A United States court has sentenced a 33-year-old San Francisco man for pulling off a multi-million dollar cryptocurrency fraud during the hype of initial coin offerings (ICOs) in 2018.
Tuesday’s sentencing came after Jerry Ji Guo pled guilty to one count of wire fraud in August 2019. He was sentenced to six months in prison, along with a restitution penalty of $4.39 million.
His sentencing includes an additional three year period of supervision following his release from jail.
Taking Advantage of the ICO Craze
He was arrested and indicted in 2018. Initially, he was charged with eight counts of wire fraud. However, seven counts were dismissed after his guilty plea to one.
In late 2019, the US government obtained a preliminary order to forfeit Guo’s client funds and further obtained warrants to seize the stolen cash and cryptocurrency. Guo is now cooperating with the government in the identification of the victims and returning the stolen funds through the forfeiture process.
“Some criminals believe mistakenly that cryptocurrency is beyond the reach of law enforcement,” said US Attorney David Anderson said in a statement. “This case shows we can use criminal forfeiture to compensate fraud victims even when cryptocurrency is used in the fraud.”
The US authorities have become very vigilant towards the growing cryptocurrency scams. Finance Magnates recently reported on the arrest of a cryptocurrency trader for his involvement in a Ponzi Scheme Ponzi Scheme A Ponzi scheme is a scam that looks to lure investors, ultimately paying profits to earlier investors with funds from more later investors.This form of fraud tricks victims into believing that products are instead generated from product sales or other means. In actuality, most investors are completely oblivious to the actual origin of incoming funds.One of the central attributes of a Ponzi scheme is the necessity of its ongoing nature, which is dependent on a steady flow of new contributions and funds. This can unravel quickly should investors request or demand repayment or lose faith in whatever assets they are supposed to own.While earlier episodes of this scam were carried out historically, the name Ponzi scheme is associated with Charles Ponzi in the 1920s.His original scam was based on the legitimate arbitrage of international reply coupons for postage stamps. This eventually gave way to diverting new investors' money to make payments to earlier investors and to himself.How to Identify Ponzi Schemes?Like any scam, Ponzi schemes follow a few basic trends that investors should be mindful of. A healthy amount of skepticism in regards to investing should always be present, which should help identify ways that scams look to market themselves.For example, Ponzi schemes almost always require an initial investment and promise above average returns. This also includes purposely vague or arbitrary terminology to help confuse more novice investors. This fraud is riddled with mentions of "high-yield investment programs", "offshore investment", or “guaranteed returns”.Any sort of investment opportunity should always be analyzed and researched. In the modern era, many tools are available to identify scams or fraudulent operations.Regulators in most jurisdictions are constantly policing against these forms of market abuse and it is important to check these registers before actually investing in dubious opportunities. A Ponzi scheme is a scam that looks to lure investors, ultimately paying profits to earlier investors with funds from more later investors.This form of fraud tricks victims into believing that products are instead generated from product sales or other means. In actuality, most investors are completely oblivious to the actual origin of incoming funds.One of the central attributes of a Ponzi scheme is the necessity of its ongoing nature, which is dependent on a steady flow of new contributions and funds. This can unravel quickly should investors request or demand repayment or lose faith in whatever assets they are supposed to own.While earlier episodes of this scam were carried out historically, the name Ponzi scheme is associated with Charles Ponzi in the 1920s.His original scam was based on the legitimate arbitrage of international reply coupons for postage stamps. This eventually gave way to diverting new investors' money to make payments to earlier investors and to himself.How to Identify Ponzi Schemes?Like any scam, Ponzi schemes follow a few basic trends that investors should be mindful of. A healthy amount of skepticism in regards to investing should always be present, which should help identify ways that scams look to market themselves.For example, Ponzi schemes almost always require an initial investment and promise above average returns. This also includes purposely vague or arbitrary terminology to help confuse more novice investors. This fraud is riddled with mentions of "high-yield investment programs", "offshore investment", or “guaranteed returns”.Any sort of investment opportunity should always be analyzed and researched. In the modern era, many tools are available to identify scams or fraudulent operations.Regulators in most jurisdictions are constantly policing against these forms of market abuse and it is important to check these registers before actually investing in dubious opportunities. Read this Term.
“The FBI is tasked with pursuing crimes and the various means and methods that criminals use to commit those crimes,” FBI San Francisco Special Agent in Charge, Craig Fair said. “In the financial sector, cryptocurrency has emerged as a significant threat as it affords criminals with a space to conduct activity that is particularly difficult to trace and detect.”
A United States court has sentenced a 33-year-old San Francisco man for pulling off a multi-million dollar cryptocurrency fraud during the hype of initial coin offerings (ICOs) in 2018.
Tuesday’s sentencing came after Jerry Ji Guo pled guilty to one count of wire fraud in August 2019. He was sentenced to six months in prison, along with a restitution penalty of $4.39 million.
His sentencing includes an additional three year period of supervision following his release from jail.
Taking Advantage of the ICO Craze
He was arrested and indicted in 2018. Initially, he was charged with eight counts of wire fraud. However, seven counts were dismissed after his guilty plea to one.
In late 2019, the US government obtained a preliminary order to forfeit Guo’s client funds and further obtained warrants to seize the stolen cash and cryptocurrency. Guo is now cooperating with the government in the identification of the victims and returning the stolen funds through the forfeiture process.
“Some criminals believe mistakenly that cryptocurrency is beyond the reach of law enforcement,” said US Attorney David Anderson said in a statement. “This case shows we can use criminal forfeiture to compensate fraud victims even when cryptocurrency is used in the fraud.”
The US authorities have become very vigilant towards the growing cryptocurrency scams. Finance Magnates recently reported on the arrest of a cryptocurrency trader for his involvement in a Ponzi Scheme Ponzi Scheme A Ponzi scheme is a scam that looks to lure investors, ultimately paying profits to earlier investors with funds from more later investors.This form of fraud tricks victims into believing that products are instead generated from product sales or other means. In actuality, most investors are completely oblivious to the actual origin of incoming funds.One of the central attributes of a Ponzi scheme is the necessity of its ongoing nature, which is dependent on a steady flow of new contributions and funds. This can unravel quickly should investors request or demand repayment or lose faith in whatever assets they are supposed to own.While earlier episodes of this scam were carried out historically, the name Ponzi scheme is associated with Charles Ponzi in the 1920s.His original scam was based on the legitimate arbitrage of international reply coupons for postage stamps. This eventually gave way to diverting new investors' money to make payments to earlier investors and to himself.How to Identify Ponzi Schemes?Like any scam, Ponzi schemes follow a few basic trends that investors should be mindful of. A healthy amount of skepticism in regards to investing should always be present, which should help identify ways that scams look to market themselves.For example, Ponzi schemes almost always require an initial investment and promise above average returns. This also includes purposely vague or arbitrary terminology to help confuse more novice investors. This fraud is riddled with mentions of "high-yield investment programs", "offshore investment", or “guaranteed returns”.Any sort of investment opportunity should always be analyzed and researched. In the modern era, many tools are available to identify scams or fraudulent operations.Regulators in most jurisdictions are constantly policing against these forms of market abuse and it is important to check these registers before actually investing in dubious opportunities. A Ponzi scheme is a scam that looks to lure investors, ultimately paying profits to earlier investors with funds from more later investors.This form of fraud tricks victims into believing that products are instead generated from product sales or other means. In actuality, most investors are completely oblivious to the actual origin of incoming funds.One of the central attributes of a Ponzi scheme is the necessity of its ongoing nature, which is dependent on a steady flow of new contributions and funds. This can unravel quickly should investors request or demand repayment or lose faith in whatever assets they are supposed to own.While earlier episodes of this scam were carried out historically, the name Ponzi scheme is associated with Charles Ponzi in the 1920s.His original scam was based on the legitimate arbitrage of international reply coupons for postage stamps. This eventually gave way to diverting new investors' money to make payments to earlier investors and to himself.How to Identify Ponzi Schemes?Like any scam, Ponzi schemes follow a few basic trends that investors should be mindful of. A healthy amount of skepticism in regards to investing should always be present, which should help identify ways that scams look to market themselves.For example, Ponzi schemes almost always require an initial investment and promise above average returns. This also includes purposely vague or arbitrary terminology to help confuse more novice investors. This fraud is riddled with mentions of "high-yield investment programs", "offshore investment", or “guaranteed returns”.Any sort of investment opportunity should always be analyzed and researched. In the modern era, many tools are available to identify scams or fraudulent operations.Regulators in most jurisdictions are constantly policing against these forms of market abuse and it is important to check these registers before actually investing in dubious opportunities. Read this Term.
“The FBI is tasked with pursuing crimes and the various means and methods that criminals use to commit those crimes,” FBI San Francisco Special Agent in Charge, Craig Fair said. “In the financial sector, cryptocurrency has emerged as a significant threat as it affords criminals with a space to conduct activity that is particularly difficult to trace and detect.”