Promoter of crypto 'Ponzi scheme' Forcount sentenced to 20 years in prison

Top crypto promoter Juan Tacuri was sentenced to 20 years in prison after prosecutors say he netted millions of dollars from investors and spent the funds on luxury goods.

U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres sentenced Tacuri, 46, to 240 months in prison and ordered him to forfeit over $3 million and his rights to a home in Florida, according to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.

Prosecutors say Tacuri was involved in a "cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme" called Forcount. The scheme operated internationally and claimed to be a crypto mining and trading firm. Forcount also targeted Spanish-speaking communities, according to the statement released on Wednesday.

Tacuri pled guilty in June to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

"Tacuri was one of the most prolific promoters of the Forcount Ponzi scheme, taking in millions of dollars from working class victims. Instead of using victims’ funds as promised, he instead spent it on himself," said U.S. Attorney Williams in a statement. "Today’s sentence should serve as a stark reminder that, in the long run, fraud does not pay.”

Prosecutors said Tacuri lied to victims by telling them that profits from the firm's crypto trading and mining would reap "guaranteed daily returns" and double their investments in six months. However, Forcount was not trading or mining crypto, and victims' funds were used to pay other victims and to make themselves richer, they added.

Judge Torres is also overseeing a notable case involving Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York has pursued similar cases. Prosecutors there charged people involved with IcomTech, which said it was a crypto trading and mining firm. The U.S. Attorney's Office also called it a "cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme."