A man who allegedly defrauded initial coin offering (ICO) issuers has been sentenced to six months in prison by a U.S. court. Jerry Ji Guo allegedly defrauded his clients over $20 million worth of cryptocurrency. The 33-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in late 2019. He also admitted to having posed as an ICO consultant at the height of the 2017 ICO craze. He promised he would perform marketing and publicity services for his clients.
Jerry Guo defrauded multiple clients and embezzled their cash and digital currencies.
According to the Department of Justice press release, he never performed any of the services he received payment for. Instead, he defrauded multiple clients and embezzled their cash and cryptocurrencies. A federal grand jury indicted Guo on November 15, 2018, charging him with eight counts of wire fraud. The San Francisco resident pleaded guilty to one count, and the rest were dismissed. One of the key reasons for the dismissal and the lenient sentencing is Guo’s cooperation with the government. The DoJ revealed that he had assisted the government in identifying and return ill-gotten property through the forfeiture process.
The DoJ will use the victim restoration process to return the stolen property to Guo’s victims.
“Accordingly, the government now is in a position to return the stolen property to the victims,” the DoJ stated in the press release. The DoJ will use the victim restoration process to return the stolen property to Guo’s victims. The Northern District of California ordered Guo to pay $4.3 million in restitution, in addition to his six-month prison sentence. He so has to serve a three-year supervised release. FBI Special Agent Craig Fair cautioned the public against thinking that digital currencies were above law enforcement agencies’ reach.
