New York man to pay $36 million for forex and crypto fraud

• A
  US
  federal
  court
  ordered
  William
  Koo
  Ichioka
  to
  pay
  $31
  million
  in
  restitution
  and
  $5
  million
  in
  monetary
  penalty
• The
  New
  York
  resident
  was
  charged
  and
  ordered
  to
  pay
  a
  total
  of
  $36
  million
  for
  defrauding
  victims
  in
  a
  forex
  and
  crypto
  scheme

A
New
York
man
is
to
pay
$36
million
for
defrauding
victims
in
a
scheme
involving
forex
and

crypto.

In
a

press
release
on
September
20,
the
Commodity
Futures
Trading
Commission
(CFTC)
said
William
Koo
Ichioka,
formerly
of
San
Francisco,
will
pay
$31
million
in
restitution
to
the
victims
of
his
fraudulent
scheme
and
$5
million
in
civil
monetary
penalty.

The
fine
was
handed
by
Judge
Vince
Chhabria
of
the
US
District
Court
for
the
Northern
District
of
California
in
an
order
given
on
September
19.

CFTC
filed
charges
against
Ichioka
in
June
2023

The
CFTC

filed
a
civil
enforcement
action
against
Ichioka
in
June
2023.
The
charges
involved
the
fraudulent
soliciting
and
stealing
of
over
$21
million
from
more
than
100
commodity
pool
participants.
Ichioka
admitted
to
the
charges
and
agreed
to
an
order
of
judgment.

Allegations
against
Ichioka
related
to
a
scheme
from
2018
that
lied
to
unsuspecting
participants
in
investment
funds.

The
individual
claimed
investors
would
get
a
10%
return
on
their
funds
every
30
days.
However,
this
did
not
happen
and
Ichioka
stole
funds
from
victims
with
his
own
money,
using
these
funds
on
personal
expenses
such
as
rent,
jewelry,
and
luxury
vehicles.

“To
conceal
his
fraudulent
activity,
Ichioka
overstated
the
value
of
assets
he
held
by
generating
false
financial
documents
and
presenting
false
account
statements
to
participants,”
CFTC
noted
in
the
press
release.

Parallel
criminal
case

Ichioka
also
pleaded
guilty
to
charges
filed
by
the
Department
of
Justice
in
June
2023,
with
the
case
running
parallel
to
the
CFTC
complaint.
Charges
included
wire
fraud,
false
tax
returns,
and
commodities
fraud.
For
the
five
counts,
the
court
sentenced
Ichioka
to
48
months
in
prison.

He
also
received
a
5-year
supervised
release
sentence.
The
court
imposed
a
$5
million
fine
and
$31,330,715.86
in
restitution.

On
August
14,
2023,
the
court
ordered
a
permanent
injunction
and
prohibited
Ichioka
from
any
future
violations.
He
was
also
barred
from
trading
in
any
CFTC-regulated
markets
or
registering
with
the
regulator.

According
to
the
CFTC,
that
order
and
the
monetary
penalty
mark
the
end
of
CFTC’s
enforcement
action
against
the
New
York
resident.