Senior promoter of the cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme IcomTech sentenced to nearly six years in prison

Mars Finance reports that on December 19, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Magdaleno Mendoza, a 56-year-old senior promoter of the cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme IcomTech, was sentenced to 71 months in prison for participating in a large-scale fraud targeting investors across the United States. U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton stated that Mendoza played a key role in recruiting victims, especially within the Spanish working-class community. “As a senior promoter of IcomTech, Mendoza helped find Spanish-speaking users lacking investment experience, including our fellow New Yorkers. He and his accomplices exploited victims’ trust, stealing millions of dollars of hard-earned money from the working class.” IcomTech was established in mid-2018, claiming to be a cryptocurrency mining and trading company that promised investors guaranteed profits for their investments. However, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, in reality, the company never engaged in the promised trading or mining activities but instead used new investors’ funds to pay early participants and finance the promoters’ luxurious lifestyles.