The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) says a US district court in Texas has ordered a Texas man, Abner Alejandro Tinoco, and his company, Kikit & Mess Investments, LLC, to fork over $31 million regarding crypto and forex fraud.
According to the CFTC, the court order requires Tinoco and Kikit & Mess to pay $6,203,792.18 in restitution to 199 defrauded victims, $6,257,904.89 in disgorgement with dollar-for-dollar credit for any restitution payments to victims, and a $18,773,714 civil monetary penalty.
There was a previous consent order in September 2020 that found the defendants engaged in fraud, accepting over $7.2 million in funds from clients and paying bogus profits to other clients in a classic Ponzi scheme.
The CFTC noted that Tinoco did not invest the funds but instead spent them on chartering a private jet, a luxury mansion, real estate, and high-end cars.
There was a parallel criminal case with Tinoco being sentenced to 84 months in prison plus $9 million in restitution. Tinoco is currently in a federal corrections facility in Arizona.