| Sharma
Re-Arrested After Got 8 Years With Seized
ETH Wallet in SDNY
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
August 20 – Robert Farkas was
up for sentencing on December
15, on fraud charges related
to crypto-currency. Inner City
Press covered it. And
now, on August 20, 2021, the
re-arrest of Sohrab Sharma:
"Re: United
States v. Sohrab Sharma, S3 18
Cr. 340 (LGS) Dear Judge
Schofield: The Government
writes to provide the Court
with a brief update regarding
the execution of the Court’s
August 17, 2021 bench warrant
authorizing federal law
enforcement agents to arrest
defendant Sohrab Sharma for
violating the Court-ordered
conditions of his release on
bail in this case. Law
enforcement agents with the
United States Marshals Service
arrested Sharma on August 18,
2021 in the Southern District
of Florida when he appeared
for a scheduled urinalysis
exam at the Probation Office.
Later the same day, Sharma was
presented, in the Southern
District of Florida, before
United States Magistrate Judge
Jacqueline Becerra. During the
presentment, the Government
requested that Sharma be
detained and ordered removed
to this District for further
bail violation proceedings
before this Court, pursuant to
18 U.S.C. § 3148. Sharma,
through his counsel, conveyed
that he would be seeking
release on bail conditions,
and requested several days to
prepare for a hearing on his
bail application. Accordingly,
Judge Becerra scheduled a bail
hearing for Monday, August 23,
2021 at 10 a.m. before United
States Magistrate Judge John
J. O’Sullivan, and remanded
Sharma pending the August 23
bail hearing. At the hearing,
the Government intends to
continue to seek Sharma’s
detention and removal to this
District for further bail
violation proceedings before
this Court."
U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Judge Lorna G. Schofield held
the sentencing.
Farkas' lawyer
emphasized that his client
grew up in rural New Jersey
and was not really a tech guy.
He said Farkas
had served 55 days at the
beginning of the case, in
maximum security Federal
facilities in Miami, then
Atlanta, then Oklahoma and
finally the MCC.
Judge
Schofield asked if there were
any victims on the line, and
some beeping and loss of
reception began.
On January 19,
victims filed a claim for some
of the $33 million (100,000
ETH) they say now DOJ is
trying to keep for its Assets
Forfeiture Fund.
Rensel, Yun Hi,
Hao Poon, Fung Poon, Jae J.
Lee, Rodney Warren and Mateusz
Ganczarek requested a hearing
to adjudicated their interest
in a portion of the Victim
Fund and for restitution
instead of forfeiture.
On March 4,
Sohrab Sharma got eight years.
Inner City Press live tweeted
it here
and below.
Now in July,
co-defendant Trapani gets
permission to travel: "MEMO
ENDORSEMENT as to Raymond
Trapani (2) granting [512]
LETTER MOTION addressed to
Judge Lorna G. Schofield from
Joseph A. Bondy dated July 12,
2021 re: Request for
Modification of Pre-Trial
Release, to Allow Travel to
Boston, MA, from July 20-23,
2021. ENDORSEMENT: Application
Granted. The Clerk of the
Court is directed to terminate
the letter motion at docket
number 512. (Signed by Judge
Lorna G. Schofield).
On restitution -
Assistant US Attorney argues
that the claimants will not be
able to show that the Ether /
"Ethereum" in Sharma's wallets
belong to them. But Judge
Schofield seems ready to allow
an amended petition.
Judge Schofield
says new petition seeking the
Ether in Sharma's wallet is
due March 15, Government
opposition by March 22 (and
then a reply). She'll issue a
written decision on the
forfeiture decision.
Judge Schofield:
OK, let's proceed to the
sentencing of Mr. Sharma. I
acknowledge letters from two
of his uncles, his girlfriend,
his future sister in law and
employees, and others
Judge
Schofield: Sharma wants a
downward variance, saying this
his prior crimes were about
substance abuse, not violence.
If I accept that, the bottom
of the guidelines range would
move to 12 years and 7 months
- still substantial.
Assistant
US Attorney: This defendant
received $36 million from his
crimes. He diverted money for
personal expenses, high end
retail purchases.
And here it
is: Sharma has been sentenced
to eight years, followed by
three years of supervised
release and a fine of
$20,000. He was ordered
to forfeit $36,088,960 -
that's the ongoing fight.
Watch this site.
The US
Attorney's Office announced:
Farkas "was sentenced on
December 15 to one year and
one day in prison, in
connection with his
participation in a scheme to
induce victims to invest more
than $25 million dollars’
worth of digital funds in
Centra Tech, Inc. (“Centra
Tech”), a Miami-based company
he co-founded and that
purported to offer
cryptocurrency-related
financial products.
FARKAS previously
pled guilty to conspiring to
commit securities fraud and
wire fraud in connection with
his and his co-conspirators’
use of material
misrepresentations and
omissions to solicit investors
to purchase securities, in the
form of digital tokens issued
by Centra Tech, through an
initial coin offering
beginning in approximately
July 2017." Meanwhile,
more delay in the OneCoin
case...
This case is US
v. Sharma, et al., 18-cr-340
(Schofield)
***
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