Scammer linked to the "Sheik of Cryptocurrencies" gets 6 years in prison in the USA

Source: PortaldoBitcoin Original Title: Scammer linked to the “Sheikh of Cryptocurrencies” receives 6 years in prison in the USA Original Link: The US Justice has convicted one of the main scammers of the IcomTech cryptocurrency pyramid scheme, a company that also involves Brazilian Francisley Valdevino da Silva — known as the “Sheikh of Cryptocurrencies,” convicted in the Rental Coins case. According to the Department of Justice (DoJ), Magdaleno Mendoza, leader of IcomTech, will be imprisoned for 71 months (about 6 years) for conspiracy to commit electronic fraud.

IcomTech was created in 2018 by a New York citizen named David Carmona, who has also been sentenced in the US to 10 years in prison and an additional three years of supervised probation.

IcomTech presented itself as a cryptocurrency mining and trading company, promising guaranteed daily returns. In practice, however, it operated as a classic Ponzi scheme of multi-level marketing, using resources from new investors to pay older participants.

The company primarily targeted working-class Hispanic communities, often with little investment experience. Mendoza organized luxury promotional events, where he raised thousands of dollars in cash.

According to the DoJ, when withdrawals began to be delayed, IcomTech started offering its own token, the “Icoms”, falsely advertised as a valuable asset for future payments. The token, however, had no value and worsened the losses for investors. By the end of 2019, the scheme collapsed.

Mendoza was sentenced to pay $789,000 in restitution to the victims, lose $1.5 million in assets, and forfeit a house in California purchased with funds from the scam. He had previously engaged in other similar schemes and continued to commit frauds after the end of IcomTech.

Sheik of Cryptocurrencies

The IcomTech case also involves the Brazilian Francisley Valdevino da Silva, identified by the American prosecution as a participant in the scheme. In Brazil, Francisley has already been sentenced to 56 years in prison for his role in the financial pyramid Rental Coins, which caused a loss of around R$ 1 billion to its investors.

The ruling from October of last year by Judge Nivaldo Brunoni, from the 23rd Federal Court of Curitiba, was for crimes against the financial system and forming a gang. Among the victims deceived by Francisley were celebrities, such as Sasha Meneghel, who alone lost R$ 1.2 million in the scam.