A federal court judge has fined a New York resident $36 million for allegedly swindling crypto investors by promising high returns and using the funds to support his lavish lifestyle.
According to a Sept. 20 statement published by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), US district court judge Vince Chhabria ordered William Koo Ichioka “to pay $31 million in restitution” to victims of the fraudulent crypto and foreign exchange (forex) scheme. He is also required to pay an additional $5 million civil monetary penalty.
CFTC highlights falsely promising significant returns
The CFTC stated that Ichioka started the scheme in 2018, accepting money from investors and falsely promising them “10% returns every 30 business days.”
It further claimed that while Ichioka did invest “some funds” into foreign currencies and crypto as promised to investors, he “commingled” investor money with his own money, using it for his own personal expenses, including, “rent for his personal residence, jewelry, including watches, and luxury vehicles.”…