A cryptocurrency CEO currently charged with stealing more than $170 million worth of Bitcoin and Ether is on the run after tampering with his ankle tag, prosecutors announced Thursday.
According to an Oct. 10 filing in New York, 64-year-old Horst Zicha “fiddled with his ankle bracelet on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, and fled in violation of his pretrial conditions.”
Pretrial services reportedly alerted the government 12 hours after the bracelet stopped working, and an arrest warrant was filed that night.
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Jicha, a German national, ran USI-Tech, a multi-level marketing scheme that called itself a cryptocurrency mining investment company. USI-Tech received various cease and desist letters from U.S. and Canadian securities authorities starting in December 2017, and subsequently closed in January 2018.
After this, Jicha halted withdrawals and took responsibility for the shutdown, accusing investors of misrepresenting the company. He then allegedly ignored investor complaints and transferred USI's cryptocurrency holdings between 2017 and 2018 (Approximately $94 million worth at time of indictment) to a crypto account in his name.
Jicha had lived outside the United States for five years, but was arrested while vacationing in Miami in 2023. What's missing at this point is 1,774 Bitcoin and 28,589 Ether He was charged with money laundering, wire fraud conspiracy, and securities fraud for a total of $150 million.
Jicha was released on $5 million bail, but later moved to New York and remained under house arrest. His lawyer last contacted him on September 28, according to the New York Daily News.
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