IcomTech prosecutor receives nearly six years sentence for cryptocurrency fraud.

• Cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme results in new conviction.
• IcomTech targeted investors from Latino communities in the US.
• Brazilian courts increase penalties against leaders of the crypto scam.

One of the main promoters of IcomTech's cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme was sentenced to almost six years A prison sentence in the United States deepens the legal pressure against those responsible for one of the best-known frauds involving digital assets in the country. The sentence reinforces the criminal accountability of key figures who acted directly in attracting investors.

Magdaleno Mendoza, 56, received a 71-month prison sentence after pleading guilty in July to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and illegal reentry into U.S. territory. The conviction was announced in an official statement from the Department of Justice and adds to other decisions already handed down against IcomTech leaders.

According to federal prosecutor Jay Clayton of the Southern District of New York, Mendoza played a central role in expanding the scheme, especially by recruiting victims in working-class, Spanish-speaking communities.

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“As one of the main promoters of IcomTech, Mendoza helped exploit Spanish-speaking victims who lacked investment experience, including our fellow New Yorkers,”

said Clayton.

"Taking advantage of the trust and promise of 'cryptocurrencies,' he and his accomplices robbed millions of working-class people."

The decision comes after IcomTech founder David Carmona was sentenced to 121 months in prison in October 2024, having been identified by prosecutors as the main architect of the fraud. The company's former CEO, Marco Ruiz Ochoa, had also already received a five-year prison sentence in January of the same year.

Launched in 2018, IcomTech presented itself as a cryptocurrency mining and trading company, promising guaranteed returns to investors. In practice, according to authorities, the model operated like a classic Ponzi scheme, using funds from new participants to pay older members and sustain the luxurious lifestyle of the promoters, without carrying out any real mining or trading activity.

Data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission indicates that IcomTech operators fraudulently solicited at least $1 million from approximately 190 people in the United States and other countries. Court documents indicate that Mendoza frequently traveled throughout the country to promote events and coordinated actions directly with Carmona.

In addition to the prison sentence, Mendoza was ordered to pay approximately $790 in restitution, forfeit $1,5 million in assets related to the scheme, and relinquish his share in a California property acquired, according to authorities, with funds obtained through the fraud.