US ICO scammer condemned to 18 months in jail
A young Brooklyn businessman faces sentencing for two scams with ICO backed in diamonds and real estate, respectively
The young businessman and programmer from Brooklyn, Maksim Zaslavskiy, is the first case in the North American country of condemnation for fraud in this ecosystem. He was sentenced for two scams with ICO (Initial Currency Offer) backed in a deceptive manner in diamond and real estate, respectively.
According to the information published in Law360 digital media, Zaslavskiy had already pleaded guilty a year ago, in November 2018, for the conspiracy charge for committing securities fraud.
The number of people scammed by Zaslavskiy amounts to 1,000. The misleading offer at ICO “was focused on experienced real estate professionals, backed by US real estate investments,” to attract victims. In total, since summer 2017, investors placed at least USD 300,000 in the ICO scam.
The prosecutor of the Eastern District of New York, Richard P. Donoghue, issued a statement stating: “Zaslavskiy committed an old-fashioned fraud camouflaged as cutting edge technology. […] This office will continue investigating and prosecuting those who disappoint. to investors, either with traditional securities or with virtual currencies.”
The defense lawyer, Mildred Whalen, argued before the judge of the case that the person involved was trying to reimburse the money to the people he had cheated. However, it was learned that PayPal “froze his accounts for fear that ICO payments would be made with stolen or fraudulent credit cards.”
M.Pino
Source: Cointelegraph
