Sohrab ‘Sam’ Sharma was also ordered to forfeit more than $36 million.
The co-founder of a Miami-based firm that claimed to offer cryptocurrency-related financial products has been sentenced to eight years in prison for his role in a scheme that took more than $25 million from victims investing in the company’s digital funds.
Sohrab “Sam” Sharma pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and mail fraud in connection with material misrepresentations and omissions used to solicit investors to buy digital tokens issued by Centra Tech, the company he co-founded, through fraudulent fundraising that included an initial coin offering (ICO).
Centra Tech Co-founder Bags 8-Year Jail Term For ICO Scam
Last Updated: 05 March 2021
The co-founder of the fraudulent crypto investment firm, Centra Tech, Sohrab Sharma has been sentenced to eight years in prison for his role in duping investors out of more than $25 million.
Ilan Graff, the Deputy United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York described Sharma as a fraud who co-founded a startup with the intention of deceiving investors with bogus business partnerships, bogus licenses and fake crypto-related financial products.
Sharma Dupes Investors Of Millions
Sharma and his cohorts, Robert Farkas and Raymond Trapani founded Centra Tech around July 2017 after which they conducted an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) where they distributed unlicensed securities in the form of CTR tokens. The ICO, which is similar to an IPO where a company raises capital for a new crypto offering, had them raise $25 million at its completion.