Former iComtech CEO sentenced to 5 years in prison for wire fraud

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After pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the former CEO of IcomTech was sentenced to five years in prison.

Ochoa pleaded guilty in September to one count of wire fraud conspiracy in connection with the cryptocurrency-based IcomTech Ponzi scheme.

Marco Ochoa, the former CEO of cryptocurrency mining company IcomTech, was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Judge Jennifer Rochon ordered Ochoa to forfeit $914,000 and voluntarily surrender to serve a 60-month sentence beginning March 19, according to documents filed Jan. 19 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. His supervisory release period was set at two years.

Ochoa pleaded guilty in September to one count of wire fraud conspiracy in connection with the cryptocurrency-based IcomTech Ponzi scheme. From 2018 to 2019, he led the mining company as its CEO. Last September, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said:

“IcomTech was one of the largest copycat cryptocurrency scams, and Ochoa, as its CEO, was instrumental in expanding IcomTech and ultimately harming more victims.”

The Justice Department alleged that IcomTech guaranteed daily returns on investment products even though it did not allow customers to withdraw funds. In November 2022, about three years after IcomTech’s demise, Ochoa and other executives were indicted by authorities.

In December 2023, David Carmona, the founder of IcomTech, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Ochoa was the first to be sentenced. Four other former executives listed as defendants in the case have pleaded guilty and not guilty.

A number of cryptocurrency figures have appeared in court over the past 12 months in response to enforcement actions by US authorities. FTX’s former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was found guilty of seven felonies in November 2023 and is scheduled to be sentenced in March.

Under an agreement between prosecutors and the cryptocurrency exchange, Binance’s former CEO Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to one felony count.

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