Man ordered to pay $36 million by California judge over multimillion Crypto and Forex Scam

William Koo Ichioka has been ordered by Judge Vince Chhabria of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to pay $36 million to his clients and victims after been accused of misappropriating investor funds.

Judge Vince ordered Ichioka to pay $31 million to his victims and $5 million in a civil penalty.

The judgment was revealed in a statement by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

“The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced Judge Vince Chhabria of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California entered an order Sept. 19 assessing monetary relief totaling over $36 million against William Koo Ichioka, a New York resident formerly of San Francisco.  

The order requires Ichioka to pay $31 million in restitution to defrauded victims and a $5 million civil monetary penalty in connection with his fraudulent foreign currency (forex) and digital asset fraud scheme.”, The commission stated.

Ichioka is accused of lying to his clients about their investment funds and using their funds to pay for rent, restaurants, bars, taxi rides, gym memberships, Watches and luxury vehicles, among other items.

The CFTC charged Ichioka in June 2023 for misappropriation of funds from a combined Crypto and Forex scheme. Assets misappropriated by Ichioka includes Bitcoin and Ether Assets belonging to his investors.

Ichioka in his defense claimed to have started out his financial hustle from every early age and already amassed a multimillion dollar fortune. In his investment scheme he claimed investors will make 10% return every 30 business days by participating in his investment scheme.

Ichioka ended up mixing investor funds with personal funds using the funds to settle a lot of personal bills and funding his lifestyle.

He pleaded guilty in prosecutors’ criminal charges in July 2023 which includes wire fraud, Aiding and abetting and committing securities and commodity fraud.

He was later sentenced to 4 years in prison and ordered to pay $5 million fine.

What to Know  

• The CFTC has decried a high case of fraud in forex over the past five years warning citizens to do their due diligence and revealed some warning signs citizens should look out for to detect fraud.
• The Commission also hinted on potential investors in verifying whether a firm is registered with the CFTC before committing their funds to any investment scheme.
• The type of scam carried out by Ichioka is known as Pig butchering. An investment scam which often involves the scammer cultivating a long-term relationship with the victims to gain their social trust and then influencing them to commit their funds into a fraudulent scheme.