The United States has officially issued an indictment of Lee Elbaz, the former Chief Executive Officer of Israel-based Yukom, a purported sales and Marketing firm specializing in the binary options industry.
Elbaz was charged in the District of Maryland with three counts of wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Scope of the charges
According to the US Department of Justice, the charges against Elbaz specify that Yukom provided investor retention services for two binary options brands and websites, namely BinaryBook and BigOption.
As part of the allegations, the indictment further specifies that Yukom, under the direction of Elbaz as well as other co-conspirators misled investors by claiming that the company is offering services that are in the best interests of the clients, while in reality directly benefiting from their losses.
The indictment also alleges that Elbaz and some of her subordinates at Yukom gave false claims of ROI to their investors, as well as provided prospective investors with additional false information, including false names, and claiming that the company was operating from London. The company also misled clients about the process and methods for future withdrawals, the indictment reads.
Further fraudulent activity by Yukom included providing false information to investors with regards to various promotional tools classified as “bonuses,” “risk free trades,” and “insured trades.” Each of these offerings initially appear to provide investors with added benefits, when in fact they actually work against the clients.
Timeline of the investigation
Elbaz was initially arrested in New York in September of last year. A subsequent investigation by the FBI led to allegations of wire fraud, which have now become charges against the former Yukom CEO.
As part of the investigation, Finance Magnates previously reported that FBI investigators visited the company's Israeli headquarters in January of this year, in order to find additional information in the case and to verify their findings.
While Elbaz has yet to be convicted of her allegations in this case, the extent of the findings and evidence against her and others from Yukom will likely surface during the court proceedings.
