An Instagrammer known as Jay Mazini pleaded guilty to money laundering using bitcoin. Now the blogger faces up to 20 years in prison.
Last March, Jebara Igbara was accused by the US Department of Justice of stealing bitcoins from his subscribers. The defendant recently pleaded guilty in federal court to three counts of crypto-electronic fraud, conspiracy to commit misconduct, and money laundering. Until March 2021, Igbara maintained an Instagram account under the pseudonym Jay Mazini, posting videos of large sums of money given away in exchange for bitcoin, according to court documents.
The attacker promised people payouts that significantly exceeded the value of bitcoin. After receiving BTC, the defendant sent fake screenshots to the victims, allegedly confirming the transfer of the promised money to a bank account. Naturally, in fact, no payments came to people. In total, investors were deceived in the amount of at least $ 8 million.
Igbara is also accused of defrauding members of New York’s Muslim-American community. The blogger promised that their money would be used to invest in stocks and personal protective equipment against coronavirus. However, in reality, the Instagrammer embezzled the money by spending it on personal expenses and gambling.
The promotion of cryptocurrencies by social media users with a large number of subscribers raises serious questions from lawyers. Many legal experts believe that a disclaimer for possible financial losses of users will not be able to protect cryptocurrency bloggers from lawsuits.
Source: Bits
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