August 10, 2020 | AtoZ Markets – According to a court order issued on the 7th of August 2020, Judge Theodore D. Chuang of the Maryland District Court determined that Lee Elbaz, the former CEO of Israel-based Yukom Communications, will pay $28 million in restitution for her participation in a $145 million fraud scheme carried out by Israeli-run binary options websites.
Over $106 million loss attributable to transactions involving Yukom, Numaris or Linkopia
Although the estimated loss attributable to agents of Yukom, Numaris or Linkopia is more than $106 million, according to Michael J. Petron, a Certified Public Accountant, and Certified Fraud Examiner, the Government seeks the conservative restitution amount of $28 million.
“Out of an abundance of caution, and consistent with the information made available to the Court at sentencing, the Government seeks only a conservative restitution amount of $28 million,” Judge Chuang said in the document seen by AtoZ Markets.
“The Court finds that this methodology, as more fully described in Petron’s declaration, ECF No. 367-1, was sound and yields a reasonable estimate of the loss to victims attributable to Elbaz.”
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Judge Chuang said that where the government has met its burden, Lee Elbaz offers no contrary evidence and provides no persuasive argument to undermine the Government’s calculation.
The court ordered the amended of Elbaz’s Judgement of Conviction to include the restitution amount of $28 million. Furthermore, a finding will be added to the conviction stating that Elbaz is jointly and severally liable for the amounts contained in the prior restitution orders against employees of the involved binary options fraud – Lissa Mel, Shira Uzan, Yair Hadar, Leora Welles, and Austin Smith.
US prosecutors pushing for Lee Elbaz to pay restitution amount of $28 million
United States prosecutors were pushing for Elbaz to pay the $28 million in restitution. This followed Lee Elbaz being sentenced to 22 years in prison in December of 2019. In particular, Elbaz was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud.
Throughout this fraud, thousands of investors were scammed. According to a report from the Associated Press, prosecutors said that the scheme cost investors more than $137 million between May of 2014 until June of 2017.
Elbaz was arrested in 2017 after traveling to New York and was indicted in March 2018 alongside 15 defendants in the case. In August, she was convicted by a federal jury in connection with a vast binary options scheme to defraud investors all over the world.
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