A Federal Court in the US sends a crypto fraudster to serve 20 years of imprisonment after finding him an offender of the alleged crime in which he embezzled US$ 100 Million. During the trial, the accused pleaded guilty to launching a fake digital asset hedge fund and enticed investors to provide funds.
Landmark judgment has been announced by the US’s Department of Justice (DOJ) on 4th February against one Stefan He Qin.
DOJ received a complaint against Qin (24-years old) who belongs to Australia, that he had launched a fraudulent investment scheme regarding crypto. In the complaint, it was alleged by the complainant that Qin had launched approximately two different digital assets hedge funds. In these funds, the accused received millions of dollars from US investors, however, Qin was later found to be involved in fraud.
As per court filing, the complaint revealed that Qin embezzled around US$ 100 Million. Manhattan Federal Court, which heard the matter at length, found Qin offender of the allegations and charges leveled against him. In its finding, Court concluded that Qin had established a crypto fraud under the names “VQRMultistrategy Fund” and “Virgil Sigma” respectively. At both these businesses, Qin made false promises and defrauded the general public by looting their assets, said the Court.
Court also noted that Qin undetectably continued to run his business for at least 4 years right in the heart of New York.
An agent of Homeland Security Investigations apprised the Court that Qin was the ultimate beneficiary of the looted funds. He said that Qin single-handedly designed the nefarious scheme and then fully acted upon his treacherous ideas. Meanwhile, US Attorney stated before the Court that at least US$ 90 Million was looted by Qin from Vigil Sigma business alone. While the rest of roughly US$ 10 Million was embezzled from customers of his VQR Multistrategy Fund.
After hearing the arguments of both sides, the Court penned down the judgment and sent Qin to jail for serving 20 years. As per the report, Qin’s 20 years sentence will start from 20th May, 2021. As of today, this is the longest jail time awarded to any crypto fraudster in the world.
