A New York courtroom has sentenced Antonia Perez Hernandez, a key promoter within the Forcount Ponzi scheme, to 30 months in jail.
The ruling, delivered by U.S. District Decide Analisa Torres on January 27, follows Hernandez’s responsible plea to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
A Internet of Lies
The Tampa resident is claimed to have been a part of a bunch that stole about $8.4 million from unsuspecting buyers between 2017 and 2021. With others not in courtroom, she promoted Forcount as a crypto buying and selling and mining firm, claiming those that invested in it will double their cash in half a 12 months.
Nonetheless, the agency carried out no professional operations; as an alternative, it hoodwinked buyers by giving them entry to a web-based portal purporting to point out how their funds have been rising. Most couldn’t withdraw any of the so-called earnings they noticed on the web site, and the few who acquired any cash have been paid utilizing funds from new buyers slightly than proceeds from the corporate’s actions.
When complaints began mounting, Hernandez, at the side of Juan Tacuri and Nestor Nuñez, started promoting a proprietary crypto token referred to as “Mindexcoin.” They claimed the coin’s worth would skyrocket as soon as it grew to become accepted by mainstream retailers as fee for items and providers.
The three have been indicted in December 2022, alongside Forcount founder Francisley Da Silva and 6 different perpetrators of a separate crypto Ponzi scheme.
Tacuri pleaded responsible to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in June 2024. A month later, his co-conspirators additionally admitted to the identical cost. He was sentenced to twenty years and compelled to forfeit about $3.6 million he had constructed from the rip-off. Compared, Nuñez got here off comparatively simpler, receiving a four-year sentence for his function.
When Hernandez lastly had her day in courtroom, Decide Torres despatched her to jail for 30 months as had been really helpful by the U.S. Legal professional’s workplace. In her judgment, Torres identified that whereas the accused was not the mastermind, she performed a key function in selling the nugatory token to unsuspecting buyers.
Victims Misplaced Life Financial savings
In keeping with courtroom reviews, some individuals who had put cash into the rip-off spoke out through the sentencing, detailing the devastating monetary and emotional influence of the promoter’s actions.
One sufferer, showing by way of video name, is claimed to have struggled with connection points as they shared their expertise. One other, sure to a wheelchair, wished to understand how the scammer was nonetheless dwelling comfortably regardless of the crimes she had dedicated.
Decide Torres, well-known for her 2023 ruling in a case pitting the SEC towards Ripple Labs, additionally heard how some victims misplaced their retirement financial savings and marriages due to the rip-off.
On her half, Hernandez expressed regret for her function within the con and apologized to these it had affected. In the meantime, the scheme’s orchestrator, Francisley Da Silva, remains to be in custody in Brazil.
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