New York Jury Convicts IcomTech Promoters of Wire Fraud
A New York jury has found David Brend and Gustavo Rodriguez, two former promoters of IcomTech, an alleged crypto mining and trading company, guilty of wire fraud conspiracy. They face a maximum sentence of 20 years for their involvement in the “Ponzi” scheme.
The trial lasted two weeks and on March 14, the jury reached a verdict in a New York District Court. The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced on March 15 that David Carmona, the founder of IcomTech, hired Rodriguez in 2018 to create a website for the company, which claimed to be a crypto mining and trading firm.
Carmona, Brend, and others promised investors guaranteed daily returns, but prosecutors allege that the company was not actually trading or mining crypto. Instead, it was using investor funds to pay off other investors in a “Ponzi” scheme.
Rodriguez was also responsible for determining the pricing of investment packages and creating fake daily returns for investors to view on the website and portal he maintained.