A federal judge has ordered a fraudster to pay over $36 million in fines and restitution for his role in a fraudulent crypto and forex scheme.

According to a September 20 announcement from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), William Koo Ichioka must pay $31 million to victims he defrauded. He also faces a $5 million civil penalty. On top of that, the court has barred him from trading in CFTC-regulated markets and from registering with the CFTC.

In January, Ichioka pleaded guilty to several criminal charges brought by the Department of Justice (DOJ). These charges included wire fraud and securities fraud. He received a four-year prison sentence along with those hefty fines and restitution.

As part of his plea agreement, Ichioka admitted that his scheme, called "Ichioka Ventures," deceived over a hundred investors. They believed they would earn a 10% return on their investment every 30 business days.

Ichioka presented himself as a "self-made investor" with a "multimillion fortune." He claimed he would invest their money in securities and commodities, including cryptocurrency. He said he profited through crypto arbitrage, futures, and forex transactions.

While he did invest some funds in forex and "digital asset commodities," he mixed investors' money with his own. He used their funds to cover personal expenses like his home, meals, and shopping.

To hide his fraud, he provided fake financial documents and false account statements. These documents overstated the value of the assets he claimed to manage for his investors.

“Ichioka lured his victims with false promises of huge returns,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Robbins. He added that “during the years he ran his cryptocurrency-based Ponzi scheme, Ichioka defrauded over 100 investors of tens of millions of dollars. Today’s sentence shows that lengthy prison terms await anyone who tries to swindle investors in this district.”