Senior Forcount Ponzi Scheme Promoter Sentenced To 20 Years In Prison

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Julia Smith

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Julia Smith

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Julia is an experienced editor with a passion for covering a wide variety of beats. She loves all things politics and regularly covers regulatory updates on emerging technology here for Crypto News.

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October 15, 2024

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Juan Tacuri, a senior promoter in the Forcount Ponzi scheme, has been sentenced to two decades behind bars for his role in the crypto fraud scheme, the United States Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.

Juan Tacuri Faces The Music For Crypto Fraud Scheme

According to an October 16 press release, United States District Court Judge Analisa Torres ruled that Tacuri should receive the statutory maximum of 240 months in prison for wire fraud as part of promoting the international digital asset scheme.

“Juan Tacuri may have claimed to be involved in cutting-edge cryptocurrency investing, but, in reality, he was running one of the oldest tricks in the book: a Ponzi scheme,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement Wednesday. “Tacuri was one of the most prolific promoters of the Forcount Ponzi scheme, taking in millions of dollars from working-class victims.”

According to federal prosecutors, Tacuri promised customers of the crypto mining and trading company that the organization’s profits would lead to guaranteed daily returns on investments as well as the doubling of those investments within a six-month time frame.

The now-convicted crypto fraudster reportedly “hosted lavish expos” as well as “small community presentations” that targeted victims in hopes of getting them to invest in the scheme.

According to the press release, Tacuri would “boast about the money he was earning” to potential investors and wore designer clothing to these events, where he promoted the crypto company as “a means of achieving financial freedom.”

The Collapse Of The Forcount Ponzi Scheme

The fraud scheme inevitably began to crumble in April 2018 when investors struggled to withdraw funds from Forcount’s online investor portal; nonetheless, Tacuri and others continued to promote the fraudulent crypto company.

In a last-ditch effort, Forcount began offering “proprietary crypto tokens” to ” inject liquidity” into the scheme.

Ultimately, the tokens proved worthless, creating further financial strain for the already defrauded victims. By 2021, all payments to investors had stopped, and complaints went unanswered by the crypto company.

In addition to 20 years in federal prison, Tacuri has been ordered to pay over $3.6 million in fines and forfeiture.

“Instead of using victims’ funds as promised, he instead spent it on himself,” Williams continued. Today’s sentence should serve as a stark reminder that, in the long run, fraud does not pay.”