A Sept. 20 statement released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) claims that US district court judge Vince Chhabria ordered William Koo Ichioka “to pay $31 million in restitution” to victims of the bogus crypto and foreign exchange (forex) scheme. He also has to pay a $5 million civil monetary penalty extra.

Starting the program in 2018, Ichioka allegedly took money from investors and misled them by promising falsely “10% returns every 30 business days.”

It further claimed that Ichioka “commingled” investor money with his own money, using it for his own personal expenses, including “rent for his personal residence, jewelry, including watches, and luxury vehicles,” while he did invest “some funds” into foreign currencies and cryptocurrencies as promised to investors.

The ruling came over a year following the August 2023 court “entry of an initial consent order of permanent injunction against Ichioka.” The regulator at the time barred him from registering with the CFTC and from dealing in any markets under control of the CFTC.

Recent times have seen authorities focus on those who erroneously promise great gains in cryptocurrencies. Following his promise “the victims returns on their investments as high as 60% in three months,” the Department of Justice (DoJ) charged crypto celebrity Thomas John Sfraga with wire fraud on May 18.

Concurrent with this, in February Brian Sewell, a school instructor in crypto trading, was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for tricking fifteen students into making a total $1.2 million investment in a hedge fund with promised rich returns.

Every year, the amount of money lost by crypto investors to con artists is growing.

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