A judge has ordered a California man to pay $36 million for cryptocurrency and foreign exchange fraud

According to a statement released Friday by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), U.S. District Court Judge Vince Chhabria for the Northern District of California ordered William Koo Ichioka, 30, to pay $31 million to the victim and a $5 million civil penalty.
The CFTC charged Ichioka in June 2023 with embezzlement of funds in a scam involving cryptocurrency (including Bitcoin and Ethereum) and foreign exchange transactions. As part of a parallel operation, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California and the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) also filed charges against him.
Ichioka, who describes himself as someone who "started pursuing wealth very early and has amassed millions of dollars", told investors to get a 10 per cent return every 30 business days for participating in its commodity liquidity pool, according to a court verdict. Ichioka did use a portion of his investors' money to invest in start-up stocks, digital asset commodities and foreign exchange trading, but he also "mixed participants' money with his own" and used the money to pay rent, restaurants, bars, taxis, gym memberships and other expenses such as luxury cars.