The U.S. federal court has ordered Sam Ikkurti, owner of a fraudulent cryptocurrency hedge fund, to pay nearly $840,000 to investors defrauded in a Ponzi scheme.
Illinois District Court
has
Ikkurti and his companies fined $83,757,249 and ordered to return $36,967,285.
Companies managed by Ikkurti include Jafia LLC, Ikkurti Capital, Rose City Fund, and Seneca Ventures. They promised investors high returns such as 15% annual income from PoS mining and potential profits of up to $2,708 on investments yielding 100%.
The court found that he failed to deliver any net profits and operated a system redistributing funds from new investors to earlier ones, akin to a Ponzi scheme.
Read more:
Two Shocking Cryptocurrency Hijacking Cases
In 2022, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sued Ikkurti for fraud.
The defendant argued that he was not under CFTC oversight or judicial review, but the court upheld its authority, citing federal subject matter jurisdiction under the Commodity Exchange Act.
