Robert Farkas, the co-founder of Centra Tech that was endorsed by the likes of Floyd Mayweather and DJ Khalid, is negotiating a plea bargain for his role in the fraudulent Centra Tech initial coin offering in 2017. The US District Judge Lorna Schofield granted Farkas’s attorneys a request to schedule a plea hearing for next week. The details of the proposed deal are yet to be disclosed. The trials of Farkas and fellow Centra founder Sohrab Sharma were delayed till September because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Centra Tech founders face charges for defrauding investors out of more than $25 million.
Co-founders Farkas and Sharma face charges for defrauding investors out of more than $25 million between July and October 2017 through the Centra Tech ICO. The company falsified licensing agreements with Visa, Mastercard, and Bancorp to drive hype for the offering, before paying for endorsements from professional boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr and musician DJ Khaled. In July 2019, Raymon Trapani was charged with operating the ICO, however, pleaded guilty to nine counts last year. The founders concocted Centra Tech while running a luxury car rental company in Florida.
Floyd Mayweather and DJ Khaled paid penalties for promoting fraudulent ICO.
Floyd Mayweather and Khaled were charged in November 2018 by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for “unlawfully touting coin offerings.” It was found that neither Mayweather nor Khaled had revealed their $100,000 and $50,000 payouts for endorsing the ICO to their social media followers. Mayweather had also failed to disclose $200,000 in payments for promoting two other ICOs.
Mayweather paid $300,000 in disgorgement, a $300,000 as a penalty, and nearly $15,000 in prejudgment interest for promoting three ICOs on his social media. DJ Khaled paid disgorgement of $50,000, a $100,000 penalty, and nearly $3,000 in prejudgment interest.
