A multitude of individuals who are responsible for creating and promoting two suspected counterfeit cryptocurrencies are facing a litany of charges that could send them to prison for up to twenty years.

Prosecutors in the United States of America have filed indictments against nine individuals in two separate instances. These people are accused of founding or promoting a couple of cryptocurrency organizations that are suspected to be Ponzi schemes and made $8.4 million from investors.

The indictment against alleged cryptocurrency mining and trading companies IcomTech and Forcount was unsealed on December 14 by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. The indictment alleges that IcomTech and Forcount promised investors guaranteed daily returns that could double their investment in six months.

In fact, according to the indictment, both companies allegedly used money from later investors to pay off previous investors, while other money was spent on company advertising, luxury goods and real estate purchases, etc.

Promoters are said to have appeared at events flaunting their lavish lifestyle by driving expensive cars, wearing expensive clothing, and bragging about the amount of money they generated from their investments in the company they promoted.

Both IcomTech and Forcount launched their own separate tokens in an effort to increase liquidity and try to pay investors. Icoms and “Mindexcoin” were the names of the tokens presented by IcomTech and Forcount, respectively.

It would appear that the token sales were unsuccessful as by 2021 both companies had stopped paying investors.

In the indictment, the person identified as the creator of IcomTech was identified as David Carmona, who resides in Queens, New York. Carmona was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a potential sentence of 20 years in prison.

Francisley da Silva, originally from Curitiba, Brazil, was identified as the creator of Forcount. He is now being investigated for wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy, all of which carry a potential sentence of sixty years in jail if all charges are proven true.

Company promoters are being investigated for a variety of crimes, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, as well as making false representations.