The prosecutor of the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, said that 46-year-old resident of Florida Juan Tacuri pleaded guilty to one count of fraud using electronic means of communication. The man faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Takuri agreed to return $4 million to his victims, as well as real estate purchased with investor funds.
Takuri and other Forcount promoters guaranteed investors that their investments would double within six months. Prosecutors allege that Takuri traveled across the United States, arranging luxury exhibitions to find new investors, luring them with promises of "financial freedom." It later turned out that Forcount had never engaged in mining and cryptotrading. Takuri and his partners used the money of new investors to pay early investors, and also squandered the money they raised on real estate and a luxurious lifestyle.
In 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Takuri and three other participants in the scheme of violating securities laws. In the same year, the U.S. Department of Justice accused several citizens of organizing fraudulent IcomTech and Forcount cryptos, known as Weltsys, and money laundering. A court hearing in the Takuri case is scheduled for September 24 in New York. The verdict should be handed down by district judge Analisa Torres, who oversees the SEC's lawsuit against the Ripple crypto company.
Last month, the promoter of another cryptocurrency pyramid, BitConnect, confessed to fraud for $2.4 billion. In May, the Texas District Court found the crypto influencer who promoted Sparkster guilty of violating securities laws for distributing SPRK tokens.