Mastermind Juan Tacuri was sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined more than $3.6 million

The U.S. Federal Court for the Southern District of New York recently issued a harsh verdict on a Ponzi scheme involving cryptocurrency. The mastermind, Juan Tacuri, was accused of defrauding investors of more than $8.4 million in the Forcount scam. On October 16, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay $3.6 million in restitution and forfeit a property in Florida. . U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres, who presided over the trial, said the harsh sentence was intended to serve as a warning to other criminals seeking to use cryptocurrency to defraud.

According to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice, Juan Tacuri was a senior promoter of the Forcount (later renamed Weltsys) Ponzi scheme, which targeted the Spanish-speaking community in the United States and defrauded thousands of investors. Forcount claims to be a company engaged in cryptocurrency mining and trading, promising investors guaranteed daily returns and even doubling their investment within six months. In fact, however, the company did not conduct any real cryptocurrency activity but instead used funds from new investors to pay early investors to keep the Ponzi scheme running.

Luxurious lifestyle exposed, victims find it difficult to recover losses

Prosecutors pointed out that Tacuri and his associates held grand promotion events across the United States in order to attract more investors. They wear expensive designer clothes and luxury watches and flaunt their wealth to gain the trust of their victims. Many victims invest in the form of cash, checks, wire transfers, and even cryptocurrencies in the hope of achieving financial freedom. However, they were directed to an online portal showing false investment returns without actually being able to withdraw any funds.

Source: IG Juan Tacuri often shares photos showing off his wealth on his IG

When victims began to find themselves unable to withdraw money and lodge complaints, Tacuri and others used various excuses to delay, and even launched a worthless token called "Mindexcoin", claiming to solve financial problems. But these tokens eventually became worthless, and the victims’ losses were further magnified. In 2021, Forcount stopped all payments and Tacuri stopped promoting the project. In 2022, he was arrested and in June of this year pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said after the verdict: "Juan Tacuri may have claimed to be involved in cutting-edge cryptocurrency investments, but in fact, he was simply operating one of the oldest conspiracies - a Ponzi scheme. This harsh sentence is A clear warning to those who seek to profit through fraud: Ultimately, fraud will not end well.”

Strengthen supervision to prevent cryptocurrency scams

The verdict underscores the determination of U.S. authorities to crack down on cryptocurrency fraud. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York has previously launched investigations into similar cases, including cases involving IcomTech, which also claims to be engaged in cryptocurrency trading and mining and has been called a "cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme" by authorities. In addition, Judge Analisa Torres, who is presiding over the case, is also responsible for overseeing the lawsuit between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple.

Experts remind investors to remain vigilant when participating in cryptocurrency projects and avoid being fooled by promises of high returns. Be especially wary of projects that claim to be able to quickly double your investment. With the development of the cryptocurrency market, regulatory agencies in various countries will continue to strengthen the supervision and crackdown on related illegal activities to protect the legitimate rights and interests of investors.

There are endless scams in the currency circle. Want to know how to save yourself when encountering a scam? Welcome to read (Cryptocurrency Scam Self-Rescue Guide) previously compiled by (Crypto City).