William Koo Ichioka defrauded investors by operating a fraudulent crypto and forex scam to fund his lavish lifestyle.
The US District Court for the Northern District of California fined a New York man $36 million for running a fraudulent investment scam dating back to 2018. William Koo Ichioka was taken to court by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for defrauding investors through his crypto and forex scheme by using their funds for his personal gain and facilitating his lavish lifestyle.
According to a September 20 statement, the CFTC revealed the nature of the case and the scam and announced that the federal court’s order “requires Ichioka to pay $31 million in restitution to defrauded victims and a $5 million civil monetary penalty.” The court also ordered a permanent injunction against Ichioka in August 2023, preventing “him from trading in any CFTC-regulated markets and from registering with the CFTC.”
Ichioka attracted investors by promising them tremendously high returns of 10% every month. He invested some of the capital he received into the crypto and forex markets but used a significant chunk to fuel his lifestyle. That included “rent for his personal residence, jewelry, including watches, and luxury vehicles.” As he funneled the funds for such purposes, he faked his financial and account statements to investors to overvalue his assets and misguide them.
The DoJ Threw the Book at Ichioka in 2023
Ichioka was also previously charged by the Department of Justice (DoJ) for running his fraudulent investment scheme. The DoJ hit him with one count of wire fraud, two counts of preparing false tax returns, one count of fraud in connection with the purchase and sale of securities and one count of commodities fraud.” It sentenced him to 48 months in prison, five years of supervised release, and pay a $5 million fine and over $31 million in restitution to those he defrauded.
