A New York District Court jury convicted two men associated with IcomTech, a company that presented itself as specializing in cryptocurrency mining and trading, of wire fraud conspiracy.
The individuals, David Brend and Gustavo Rodriguez, now potentially face up to 20 years in prison for their involvement in what was revealed to be a “Ponzi” scheme.
In a verdict delivered on March 14, David Carmona, the founder of IcomTech, was found to have recruited Rodriguez in mid-2018 for the creation of a website for IcomTech. The company promised its investors guaranteed daily returns from its crypto trading and mining activities. However, the prosecution argued that these activities never took place, and the company instead operated a Ponzi scheme, redirecting funds from new investors to pay earlier ones.
Rodriguez was implicated in setting up fraudulent investment packages and manipulating daily returns accessible to investors via an online portal he managed.
Brend, alongside other promoters, was accused of diverting substantial amounts of investor funds for personal use, including purchasing real estate, funding lavish travels, and organizing extravagant events to attract more investment. These events were characterized by the display of luxury vehicles and clothing to project an image of wealth and financial success.
The scheme eventually collapsed in 2019 when the company failed to fulfill withdrawal requests, instead offering investors a token named “Icoms” as a supposed solution. These tokens, however, were deemed “essentially worthless,” exacerbating the investors’ losses.
Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, emphasized the scale of the deception, stating that the scheme “defrauded tens of thousands of people out of tens of millions of dollars,” highlighting the depth of financial damage inflicted on investors seeking to enhance their savings.
Sentencing for Brend is scheduled for June 27, followed by Rodriguez’s on June 28.
The conviction of Brend and Rodriguez is reminiscent of another crypto-related legal case involving Roman Sterlingov, the co-founder of Bitcoin Fog.
On March 12, Sterlingov was convicted of laundering money through a service designed to obscure the origins of illicitly obtained Bitcoin. His operation moved nearly $400 million in illegal transactions. This case, like that of Brend and Rodriguez, underscores the potential for fraud within the cryptocurrency sector.
Earlier last year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Utah-based firm Green United, accusing the company of violating federal securities laws by selling $18 million worth of fake cryptocurrency mining equipment.
