Authorities said they arrested Jisha and unsealed an indictment containing four counts against him — securities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering — after he entered the United States for the first time in more than five years in December. 23 Heading to Miami for vacation. He was arraigned in Brooklyn federal court on Friday morning.
Prosecutors allege that the company falsely claimed on its website, in social media posts and at in-person events that investors could earn up to 140% of the returns on cryptocurrency investments made through its platform.
Prosecutors said that around the spring of 2017, Gisha and his co-conspirators began “aggressively promoting” USI Tech. There were live events, including one in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, where one of Jicha's co-conspirators claimed that USI Tech's legality had the blessing of “the best counsel the SEC has ever had,” according to the indictment.
In 2018, when regulators began scrutinizing USI Tech, prosecutors alleged that Jicha terminated the company's U.S. operations, preventing investors from withdrawing their money. Since then, about $150 million of that money has been transferred to accounts controlled by Gisha, prosecutors said Friday.
“It is always difficult when investors suffer losses at the hands of some bad actors,” Maricel Descalzo and David Taras, Gisha’s attorneys, wrote in a statement. “We look forward to passionately defending the accusations against Mr. Geisha and bringing to light the facts of his involvement with USI Tech in hopes of bringing the bad actors to justice.”
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