Brooklyn ICO Promoter Sentenced to 18 Months in Federal Prison

The Brooklyn businessman whose 2017 ICO schemes became an early target of SEC enforcement was sentenced Monday to 18 months in federal prison for conspiring to commit securities fraud.

The case revolved around Maksim Zaslavskiy’s two fraudulent investment schemes.

During the 2017 ICO boom, Zaslavskiy sold investors asset-backed tokens for two companies – Diamond Reserve Club World and REcoin Group Foundation. But the underlying assets of the tokens did not exist.

Instead, Zaslavskiy raised at least $300,000 for investments in real estate and diamonds that never materialized.

The SEC charged him with defrauding investors in September 2017. He pleaded guilty last November, after trying and failing to get the case dismissed over what his lawyers called “vague” securities law governing his case.

“Zaslavskiy committed an old-fashioned fraud camouflaged as cutting-edge technology,” U.S. Attorney Richard P. Donoghue said in a statement. “

The Eastern District of New York “will continue to investigate and prosecute those who defraud investors, whether involving traditional securities or virtual currency,” Donoghue said.