The Casablanca Court of Appeals has sentenced 21-year-old Frenchman Thomas Clausi to 18 months in prison for orchestrating a cryptocurrency scheme. In addition to his prison term, Clausi must compensate the victims of the scam and pay a penalty of €3.4 million (approximately $3.7 million) to customs authorities.
Cryptocurrency scammers have become increasingly inventive in recent years, defrauding investors out of significant sums of money. Thankfully, law enforcement agencies have been successful in apprehending and imprisoning many of these criminals. For instance, Gilbert Armenta, the ex-lover of Ruja Ignatova (also known as the “Cryptoqueen”), was sentenced to five years behind bars for his involvement in the infamous OneCoin scam. Additionally, Cooper Morgenthau, the former CFO of African Gold, received a three-year sentence for stealing $5 million from various Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) to trade in meme stocks.
However, Clausi’s 18-month prison sentence comes with a catch. His trial began a few years ago when he purchased a Ferrari for $440,000 worth of Bitcoin from a Frenchwoman living in Morocco. Because the use of digital assets is considered an illicit payment method under local law, the transaction landed him in legal hot water. Furthermore, another individual claimed that Clausi bought three luxury watches using a counterfeit check. As a result, the Casablanca Court has ordered Clausi to refund the owner of the items $4,000, in addition to the $3.7 million penalty payable to customs authorities.
According to Clausi’s lawyer, Mohamed Aghanaj, his client has almost completed his jail sentence since he has been in a correctional facility since December 2021. Aghanaj stated, “He has one month and a few days left in prison.” Despite this, cryptocurrencies have grown increasingly popular in the region, even amidst the hostile stance of Moroccan lawmakers. The country’s central bank, Al-Maghrib, has previously expressed its intention to create a regulatory framework for the digital asset class to ensure maximum security for users.
In addition to Gilbert Armenta’s and Cooper Morgenthau’s convictions, the Southern District of New York (SDNY) Courthouse sentenced the former boyfriend of Ruja Ignatova, to serve five years in federal prison for laundering $300 million stolen from OneCoin investors. Prosecutors argued that Armenta used some of the funds to purchase a jet plane and gambled the remaining amount away.
It is essential to mention that some high-profile figures in the cryptocurrency world, such as Do Kwon (co-founder of Terraform Labs) and Sam Bankman-Fried (the former CEO of FTX), have also been accused of orchestrating multi-billion-dollar cryptocurrency frauds. Both men are facing calls for imprisonment, and in March, authorities in Montenegro arrested Kwon. He could face extradition to either the United States or South Korea in the near future, where a trial will determine his guilt and potential punishment.
Bankman-Fried is currently residing at his parent’s house in California, having spent a brief period in a Bahamian prison. His trial in early October will determine whether he played any part in the massive FTX meltdown. If found guilty, he could face a life sentence in prison.
In conclusion, while cryptocurrency scammers continue to evolve and seek new ways to defraud investors, law enforcement agencies around the world are stepping up their efforts to bring these criminals to justice. The case of Thomas Clausi is just one example of how these efforts are beginning to pay off. As more scammers are exposed and brought to justice, the safer and more secure the world of cryptocurrency will become for investors and everyday users.
