Another person connected to the Israel-based company Yukom Communications has reportedly been sentenced, with Liora Welles now facing 14 months in prison for participating in a $145 million binary options fraud scheme, according to Law360.
When US District Judge Theodore D. Chuang readout Welles’ sentence, she reportedly burst into tears. This could be because she was expecting a smaller sentence.
The judge did acknowledge that she was only 23 when she got involved in the binary options industry and also recognized her help to prosecutors for testifying against her former boss, Lee Elbaz.
Nonetheless, during the sentencing, which took place on September 20 in the small federal court in Maryland, Judge Theodore D. Chuang said the scam “literally cheated senior citizens out of their savings,” according to the news outlet.
Furthermore, the US judge went on to say that Welles had been one of the most successful sales agents for the binary options scam and that she had gone above and beyond the duties of a regular sales agent. According to the report, Welles created the sales scripts for other employees to use.
According to Law360, altogether, Welles personally duped investors out of $2.2 million. She has been ordered to pay that money back in addition to her 14 months prison sentence.
The sentencing of Welles follows on from the CEO of Yukom Communications, Lee Elbaz, being found guilty for her participation in a binary options scheme to defraud investors in the United States and across the world. Welles testified against Elbaz as part of her plea deal with United States prosecutors.
Senior Yukom executive arrested in Hungary
Friday’s conviction follows on the heels of a 28-year-old person, who holds dual Israeli-French citizenship, being arrested in Hungary. A source close to the matter told Finance Magnates that the Israeli-French in custody is allegedly an executive at Yukom Communications named Daniel, who served as the company’s VP Marketing .
The Israeli-French person was arrested alongside a 44-year-old person with US citizenship. According to the Hungarian news outlet Daily News Hungary, the two are suspected of defrauding American investors through the activity of call centers operated in Ukraine and Mauritius. It is not clear at this point whether the 44-year-old in custody is related to Yukom.
