July 2, 2019 | AtoZ Markets - Today, the United States District Judge Sandra J. Feuerstein has sentenced binary options and crypto fraudster Blake Kantor to 86 months’ imprisonment.
About crypto fraudster Blake Kantor case in a brief
Blake Kantor’s name appeared in the local publications’ headlines a year ago, when federal authorities arrested Kantor after a federal court charged him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, obstruction of an official proceeding and making false statements to FBI.
Blake Kantor, also known as “Bill Gordon,” was operating binary options firm Blue Bit Banc or Blue Bit Analytics, Ltd. (BBB).
As the media reported, crypto fraudster Blake Kantor founded the company in 2014 and used approximately $10,000 drawn from a bank account established at a TD Bank branch located in Suffolk County within the Eastern District of New York.
In a period from 2014 to 2017 Kantor, reportedly, solicited and took in approximately $2.1 million from approximately 713 investors in BBB’s binary options. The fraudster used computer software which allowed the BBB company to fraudulently alter data associated with binary options investments so that the probability of investors earning a profit favored BBB and disadvantaged investors.
In addition, Kantor supervised the opening of bank accounts, including in the island state of St. Kitts and Nevis, using pseudonyms and the identification information of other people.
The former BBB owner also managed the fraudulent scheme using cryptocurrency. According to the charges Kantor misappropriated funds which his victims invested in the Coin ATM, useless crypto, which, as Kantor mistakenly said, worth substantial sums of money.
In addition, former BBB owner misled FBI agents, by saying that he has not been involved in binary options trading since 2014. In fact, crypto fraudster Blake Kanter worked in BBB until October 2017 since the company’s establishment in March 2014.
The current position of crypto fraudster Blake Kantor
In November 2018, the scammer pleaded guilty and admitted to obstructing the government’s investigation. Almost seven months later, the judge Sandra J. Feuerstein delivered the final verdict about the case of crypto fraudster Blake Kantor.
Along with a prison sentence, Kantor was ordered to pay restitution of $806,405 to the victims of his crime, forfeiture of $1.5 million, and forfeiture of approximately $153,000 of stolen proceeds.
The crypto fraudster Blake Kantor claimed that his fraud was due to his drug abuse. However, the Government argued that the calculated nature and sophistication of his scheme belie that claim. As media reports, today’s sentence is in line with the Government’s arguments.
Binary options and crypto traders are popular targets for scammers
The case of binary options and crypto fraudster Blake Kantor is not the first and, definitely not the last fraud case which attracted media attention this year.
Atoz Markets has recently covered a story about another binary options scammer -Yehuda Belsky, Y Trading owner who was convicted on up to 40 years in prison restitution for the securities fraud after pleading guilty.
Another criminal, who applied binary options in his activity is Lee Elbaz, also known as Len Green, formerly the CEO of Yukom Communications, a storage service provider for brands such as BinaryBook. Lee Elbaz’s trial should begin in July.
As the media reports, Elbaz was charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The maximum possible penalty is 20 years and a $250,000 fine per count.
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