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January 18, 2019, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Brooklyn, New York.
Drew Angerer | Getty Images
Federal prosecutors announced charges Friday against a German businessman accused of defrauding investors of more than $150 million in a cryptocurrency fraud scheme.
Prosecutors said Horst Jicha promoted USI Tech, the company he founded and led as CEO, as a cryptocurrency mining and trading platform “accessible to the average retail investor.” But in reality, prosecutors allege, Jicha and two unnamed co-conspirators, both his USI Tech executives, lured and defrauded investors in a “multi-level marketing scheme.”
Authorities arrested Jicha on Dec. 23 after he entered the United States for the first time in more than five years and filed an indictment that included four counts of securities fraud, securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. announced that it had been opened. Off to Miami for vacation. He was arraigned Friday morning in federal court in Brooklyn.
Prosecutors said the company falsely claimed on its website, social media posts and in-person events that investors could earn up to 140% on crypto investments made through its platform. claims.
Prosecutors say Jicha and his co-conspirators began “aggressively promoting” USI-Tech in the spring of 2017. According to the indictment, there were live events, including one in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, where one of Jicha’s co-conspirators claimed that USI Tech’s legitimacy had been confirmed by “top SEC lawyers.”
When regulators began scrutinizing USI Tech in 2018, prosecutors alleged Jicha ended the company’s U.S. operations and prevented investors from withdrawing their funds. Since then, about $150 million of that money has been transferred to accounts controlled by Jicha, prosecutors announced Friday.
“It is always difficult when investors suffer losses at the hands of certain bad actors,” Maricel Descalzo and David Taras, Jicha’s attorneys, said in a statement. “We look forward to vigorously defending the allegations against Mr. Jicha and uncovering the facts of his involvement with USI Tech in the hope that the wrongdoers will be brought to justice.”
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