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    <p>A 27-year-old El Paso man has been sentenced to seven years in prison after orchestrating a “predatory” multi-million dollar <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="crypto" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/crypto.html">crypto</a> <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="Ponzi" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/ponzi.html">Ponzi</a> scheme and spending the illicit gains on luxury cars, jets, villas, and horses, according to the Department of Justice (DoJ).</p>
    <p>Abner Alejandro Tinoco ran a fake <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="crypto" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/crypto.html">crypto</a> and foreign market investment business called Kikit &amp; Mess Investments. The firm offered individually managed accounts that solicited roughly $9 million from investors.&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Tinoco then spent over half of these funds on sustaining a lavish lifestyle, buying luxury cars, private jets, real estate, and jewelry. He also bought two horses, one of which — named ‘Perfect Pair’ — <strong>cost $80,000</strong> according to a court-appointed receiver’s report.&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Tinoco formed the company in September 2020 and initially tried to legitimize it by, in typical <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="Ponzi" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/ponzi.html">Ponzi</a> fashion, using funds from previous investors to give other clients the impression that they’d made a profit.&nbsp;</p>
    <p>However, by March 2022, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) estimated that Tinoco had defrauded at least 322 clients.</p>
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       Texas city locals warned of crypto scam impersonating FBI
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    <p><em>Read more:&nbsp;Bitcoin ATM&nbsp;targeted&nbsp;in <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="Texas" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/texas.html">Texas</a> smash-and-grab</em></p>
    <p>After an investigation by the FBI, Tinoco was eventually caught and pleaded guilty in January 2023 to five counts of wire fraud. In a separate case against him, the CFTC secured a civil consent decree and banned him from trading activities.&nbsp;</p>
    <p>One US attorney said, “This defendant manufactured a predatory scheme, <strong>investing less than half a percent of funds</strong> from over a dozen victims who trusted him with millions of dollars in investments.”&nbsp;</p>
    <p>A restitution hearing has been scheduled by the DoJ for next year in an attempt to restore victims’ lost funds.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>Source: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://thebittimes.com/owner-of-perfect-pair-jailed-for-9m-el-paso-crypto-ponzi-tbt68704.html">https://thebittimes.com/owner-of-perfect-pair-jailed-for-9m-el-paso-crypto-ponzi-tbt68704.html</a></p>

Owner of ‘Perfect Pair’ jailed for $9M El Paso crypto Ponzi

TheBitTimes

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