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The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has taken Jebara Igbara, aka Jay Mazini, to court on charges of wire fraud and money laundering related to digital assets in 2021, receiving the guilty plea from the accused.
According to public statements from the DOJ, Igbara leveraged his popularity on Instagram to attract unsuspecting victims. He attracted attention by posting videos showing how to live a noble life and giving loans to individuals.
In reality, Igbara has been involved in several scams, including a high-priced scam in which he purported to buy digital assets from individuals above the market price but stopped delivering fake phone confirmation photo, authorities say. The Muslim-American community in New York was Igbara’s first target while he ran other scams, including a Ponzi scheme.
The DOJ said his victims lost more than $8 million as a result of his actions and that “promises were too good to be true.”
“Those in the Ponzi scheme were all guaranteed high returns in a short period of time, while the victims of the Bitcoin forward payment scheme were guaranteed over the value of the current market for their Bitcoin,” said an Internal Revenue Service Special Agent close to the matter.
Igbara pleaded guilty to all charges and is serving 20 years in federal prison while serving his sentence.
“With today’s plea, the fraudster has admitted to using his Instagram fame to prey on innocent investors and steal $8 million of their hard-earned money,” read the statement. “Together with our agency partners, this Department will do its best to bring the perpetrators to justice.”
The investigation involved the offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New York Field Office (FBI), and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, New York (IRS-CI).
The DOJ is leaving no stone unturned in the fight against virtual fraud
The Department of Justice is cracking down on bad actors in the digital currency ecosystem, as is the list of criminal cases it has brought against criminals.
To increase speed, the DOJ announced the creation of the Digital Assets Coordinator Network (DAC)—a dedicated arm of law enforcement for the sector. The agency says the decision to launch the network is also a direct result of President Joe Biden’s Executive Order on March 9.
“Through the creation of the DAC Network, the Criminal Division and the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team will continue to ensure that the Department and its prosecutors are well-positioned to combat the ever-evolving crime scene of digital asset technology,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth. A. Polite Jr.
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