Third Centra Tech Co-Founder to Plead Guilty for $25M Fraud

Sohrab “Sam” Sharma, a co-founder of dubious Initial Coin Offering (ICO) Initial Coin Offering (ICO) An Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is a kind of crypto token sale that is used as a method of fundraising, similar to an Initial Public Offering (IPO), in which stocks are sold to raise money for a company.In order to launch an ICO, a company simply needs to create a website, issue a token, and set a time and date for the sale. Investors buy ICO tokens in exchange for another cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin or Ethereum; after a set amount of time, they receive the tokens they purchased in the sale.Acco An Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is a kind of crypto token sale that is used as a method of fundraising, similar to an Initial Public Offering (IPO), in which stocks are sold to raise money for a company.In order to launch an ICO, a company simply needs to create a website, issue a token, and set a time and date for the sale. Investors buy ICO tokens in exchange for another cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin or Ethereum; after a set amount of time, they receive the tokens they purchased in the sale.Acco Read this Term) of Centra Tech, has decided to take a guilty plea for defrauding investors for $25 million.

Reported by Bloomberg, Sharma’s lawyers informed the US District Judge Lorna G. Schofield in a court filing Monday in New York about the change of his plea to guilty.

Before Sharma, two other co-founder’s of the same project plead guilty in the court for fraud, the latest being Robert Farkas, who changed his plea last month. Raymon Trapani, another operator of the ICO and also the “mastermind”, was charged by the watchdog agency and he pled guilty for nine counts of the charges brought against him last year.

A hyped ICO during the market boom

The three raised $25 million in via an ICO spaned between July 2017 and March 2018 with a promise to launch a crypto debit card called “Centra Card”, allowing its users to spend in Cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrencies By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the netw By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the netw Read this Term at any outlet accepting Visa and Mastercard.

They even falsified licensing agreements from Visa, Mastercard, and Bancorp to drive the hype of the token sale. They also falsely claimed that the company acquired licenses in 38 US states and was being headed by a Harvard-educated chief executive officer with more than 20 years of business experience.

However, the biggest push to the project was made by celebrity endorsements of boxing star Floyd Mayweather and rapper DJ Khaled.

The US agencies later moved against the two celebrities as both failed to reveal their $100,000 and $50,000 payouts respectively for this and also other ICO endorsements.

Mayweather was fined with $300,000 in disgorgement, a $300,000 penalty, and nearly $15,000 in prejudgment interest for Centra Tech ICO and also for another $200,000 he failed to disclose from another two ICOs. Khaled paid $50,000 in disgorgement, a $100,000 penalty, and nearly $3,000 in prejudgment interest.