Juan Tacuri, a senior promoter in a global cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme Forcount, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison by a federal court in New York. The sentence, handed down on Tuesday, marks the maximum statutory term for Tacuri's involvement in the fraud operation known as Forcount, which later rebranded as Weltsys.

In a statement issued Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said that Tacuri, who actively targeted Spanish-speaking communities, played a key role in defrauding thousands of victims across the globe. The scheme promised guaranteed returns from cryptocurrency trading and mining, but instead funneled victims’ funds to promoters.

“Juan Tacuri may have claimed to be involved in cutting-edge cryptocurrency investing, but in reality, he was running one of the oldest tricks in the book: a Ponzi scheme,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, in a statement.

“Tacuri was one of the most prolific promoters of the Forcount Ponzi scheme, taking in millions of dollars from working-class victims,” Williams added. “Instead of using victims’ funds as promised, he instead spent it on himself. Today’s sentence should serve as a stark reminder that, in the long run, fraud does not pay.”

The Forcount scheme operated from at least 2018 until 2021, luring investors with promises of guaranteed profits and returns. Victims were encouraged to buy into Forcount’s investment products through expos, community events, and flashy presentations. The Florida-based Tacuri, who prosecutors said would dress in designer clothing and boast of his wealth, would present these schemes as a path to financial freedom.

Although investors were given access to online portals that purportedly showed accumulating profits, most were unable to withdraw their funds and eventually lost their entire investments.

As complaints mounted, promoters like Tacuri offered new proprietary tokens, known as “Mindexcoin,” claiming they would become valuable when accepted for payments by companies. In reality, the tokens were worthless, leading to further financial losses for victims. By 2021, the scheme collapsed, payments ceased, and promoters stopped responding to investors’ inquiries.

The 46-year-old Tacuri was ordered to serve 20 years in prison, followed by one year of supervised release. He was also required to forfeit over $3.6 million in ill-gotten gains, including a Florida property purchased with victim funds, and pay restitution in the same amount.

In recent years, cryptocurrency-related Ponzi schemes have continued to evolve, taking advantage of emerging technologies and trends in the crypto space. In March 2024, the SEC charged 17 individuals for operating CryptoFX, a $300 million Ponzi scheme targeting over 40,000 Latino investors. Promoters promised risk-free profits but diverted funds for personal use, continuing to raise investments despite warnings.

Similarly, NovaTech misled over 200,000 investors, raising $650 million through a multi-level marketing scheme that collapsed in 2023, leaving most participants with significant losses.

The PlusToken scam defrauded investors of $3 billion in 2019, targeting Asian investors with promises of high returns through a crypto wallet and exchange. Another scam, Mirror Trading International (MTI), collapsed in 2020 after amassing $1.7 billion in Bitcoin (BTC) by falsely claiming to use AI-powered trading bots.

Edited by Andrew Hayward