The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced on Friday that it convicted Asa Saint Clair after a one-week trial for a crypto scheme that defrauded over 60 victims.
According to the press release published by the US Department of Justice, Saint Clair defrauded victims into providing loans to his organization, the World Sports Alliance, tied to a digital coin offering dubbed ‘IGObit’.
He told investors that the World Sports Alliance was a close affiliate of the United Nations, which was not true, and they would receive guaranteed returns on their investment. Instead, he used the funds for personal expenses and benefits.
“As a jury has now found, Asa Saint Clair used lies to defraud everyday people out of their hard-earned money by promising them guaranteed returns if they invested in IGObit, a digital currency he claimed the World Sports Alliance was developing. Saint Clair touted the WSA as working closely with the UN to promote the values of sports and peace for a better world, while in reality promoting only the balance of his bank accounts,” Damian Williams, the US Attorney, commented.
Charges Against Saint Clair
Saint Clair was convicted of wire fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343, from around November 2017 to around September 2019.
Moreover, Saint Clair represented to investors that the money they invested in IGObit would be used for the development of IGObit, when in reality, he diverted these funds to other entities controlled by him and members of his family, as well as to pay for personal expenses like eating dinners at Manhattan restaurants, traveling abroad and making online purchases.
The US SEC announced recently that it had charged John and JonAtina (Tina) Barksdale with defrauding thousands of retail investors out of more than $124 million through two unregistered fraudulent offerings of securities.
