Horst Jicha, the German national accused of masterminding a $150 million crypto fraud scheme, has become a fugitive after failing to appear in federal court in Brooklyn.
Jicha was reportedly under house arrest in New York City, with a $5 million bond guaranteed by his domestic partner and children.
Exam Scheduled for 31st March
According to a report from CNBC, Jicha was expected to appear in court before the trial but he didn’t show up, prompting the US attorney’s office in Brooklyn to start looking for him. the office.
In addition to seeking forfeiture of the bond, prosecutors are seeking to recover $4 million that was “personally guaranteed” by Jicha’s partner and family members, all of whom live in Germany.
Jicha is accused of spraining his ankle on October 3, which led to concerns about his own compliance and court conditions of release. Pretrial Services had sent him an order to visit their office the next day after the machine malfunctioned, but he failed to show up.
Facing multiple charges of securities fraud and conspiracy related to the multi-level marketing scheme known as USI Tech, Jicha’s trial is scheduled for March 31.
Crypto Linked to Jicha’s Fraud Scheme
Prosecutors also said he misled investors by promising a 140% return in 140 days, saying they could profit from investing in Bitcoin (BTC) mining and trading activitiesand recruiting others to purchase USI Tech products.
However, investigators asserted that the platform was a “facade,” where Jicha ended up siphoning off millions of investors’ money.
FBI Assistant Director James Smith said in January that Jicha “stole millions of his investors’ money and fled the country” after the scheme went haywire. Currently, Jicha’s whereabouts are unknown, although court records indicate that he has lived in Brazil and Spain before his arrest in Florida in late 2023.
Jicha was released on bond in January under strict conditions, including staying in New York City or Long Island and surrendering all travel documents. His colleague, Ewa Jicha, acted as his guardian, responsible for reporting any violation of the terms of his release.
USI Tech’s program, launched in Europe and marketed in the United States since 2017, has been described as a “multi-level sales operation” that relies on recruiting new investors to maintain returns on previous ones.
After confronting regulatory processingUSI Tech ceased operations in the US in early 2018, leaving investors unable to access their funds and resulting in significant financial losses.
According to the report, most of the money lost in the crypto system, estimated at $150 million at the time of Jicha’s arrest, was reportedly stored in crypto assets such as Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin, which were transferred digital wallets controlled by Jicha after the end of the company’s operations.
At the time of writing, BTC, the largest crypto in the market, is trading at $62,730.
Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com