In Brooklyn federal court, Jebara Igbara, also known as "Jay Mazini," a cryptocurrency influencer on social media sites such as Instagram, was sentenced to 84 months in prison for wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, Igbara’s fraudulent activities caused millions of dollars in financial losses to unsuspecting investors.

Social Media Fraud

Investigations found that Igbara, operating under the popular Instagram handle “Jay Mazini”, created a false image of affluence through his social media influence.

Igbara posted videos of himself handing out cash as gifts to women who had lost their wallets at grocery stores, fast food restaurants and even at airports. However, behind the scenes, Igbara was operating multiple fraudulent accounts and defrauding investors of at least $8 million.

As part of his sentencing, Igbara was ordered to forfeit $10 million. The exact amount of compensation owed to victims will be determined at a later date.

Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said:

“The prosecution of Igbara reveals his true colors: a fraudster who used his influence on social media to defraud investors of millions of dollars. He shamelessly targeted his own religious community, exploited their trust in him, and squandered and gambled away their hard-earned money. Hopefully, today’s sentence will serve as a warning to other fraudsters like the defendant in this case, so that they will think twice before harming investors for their own selfish gains.”

False Promises and Fake Cryptocurrency Schemes

According to an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, from 2019 to 2021, Igbara accumulated nearly one million followers on Instagram and developed a significant social media influence. He has cultivated an image of himself as a successful investor and businessman and has incorporated elements of the Muslim faith into his posts to create a public image of himself as both pious and reliable.

Igbara posted a series of videos on his Instagram account showing him openly handing out cash in a variety of everyday settings, such as grocery stores, fast food restaurants, and to a woman he met at an airport who had lost her wallet. The videos were intended to showcase his generosity and financial prowess as part of his social media persona to attract and maintain the attention of his followers. However, these actions were later revealed to be part of a fraudulent ploy he used to deceive and attract potential investors.

Igbara's fraud was primarily conducted through a company he controlled, Halal Capital LLC, which he used to plan and execute an investment fraud scheme that primarily targeted members of the Muslim community.

Igbara promised members of the Muslim American community in New York that he would use their funds to invest in areas including stocks, the resale of electronics, and the sale of personal protective equipment. He raised funds in this way, claiming that these investments would generate returns for investors. However, this was actually part of his fraudulent scheme.

Igbara was actually running a typical Ponzi scheme, where he used most of the investors’ funds for personal consumption, luxury cars and gambling. In order to maintain the illusion of his so-called legitimate business and continue to attract investors, he also implemented a second fraud scheme: offering purchase quotes of crypto assets above the market price through his social media accounts to induce victims to sell their cryptocurrencies.

In this scheme, Igbara would complete his fraud by sending fake wire transfer confirmation images to victims, making them falsely believe that they had received the funds, when in fact, the funds were not actually transferred to the investors.

IRS-CI Director's evaluation of his behavior

Fattorusso, special agent in charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), called Igbara a "cryptocurrency scammer." Fattorusso pointed out that Igbara not only carefully created a false identity on the Internet to lure victims into investing in his fraudulent scheme, but also cleverly used his large number of followers and influence on Instagram as false proof of his "success." In this way, Igbara increased his credibility, making it easier to lure more people into his investment scam.

Fattorusso stressed that Igbara ruthlessly defrauded millions of dollars from the Muslim community in New York and squandered these funds without remorse. His actions showed indifference to the victims and cold calculation of the fraud, with no consideration that the money was hard-earned by community members. Through this description, Fattorusso revealed that Igbara's fraudulent behavior was not only legally criminal, but also extremely morally irresponsible. #加密货币诈骗 #网红欺诈