CFTC Secures Over $5 Million in Penalties and Restitution Against Icomtech Crypto Fraud Scheme

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has entered orders requiring five individuals associated with Icomtech to pay over $5 million in restitution and civil monetary penalties for operating a fraudulent digital asset trading scheme. The court issued a consent order against Marco A. Ruiz Ochoa of New Hampshire and a default judgment order against David Carmona, Juan Arellano Parra, Moses Valdez, and David Brend. The enforcement actions stem from a CFTC complaint filed in May 2023 charging the defendants with fraud and misappropriation in connection with their digital asset operation. According to court findings, between August 2018 and December 2019, the defendants and other Icomtech agents solicited more than $1 million from at least 190 investors across the United States and internationally. Promoters falsely promised that customer funds would be used to trade Bitcoin and other digital asset commodities, claiming the platform would generate daily returns between 0.9% and 2.8% and double investors' money within eight months. In reality, the defendants never engaged in legitimate trading to generate the promised returns. Instead, investor funds were misappropriated, resulting in complete financial losses for multiple victims. Under the default judgment, Carmona, Arellano, Valdez, and Brend are held jointly and severally liable to pay over $1 million in restitution to victims, alongside individual civil monetary penalties of $1 million each. Ochoa, who admitted to participating in the scheme, agreed to a consent order requiring joint and several liability for the $1 million restitution. All five defendants are permanently banned from trading on CFTC-regulated markets, soliciting funds, and registering with the agency. The CFTC action followed parallel criminal proceedings brought by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. In the criminal cases, Carmona and Brend were each sentenced to 10 years in prison, while Ochoa was sentenced to five years. Arellano previously entered a guilty plea, while proceedings against Valdez remain ongoing.