The mastermind behind the “epic proportions” GemCoin crypto scheme has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
Steve Chen unlawfully obtained $147 million from thousands of investors who became victims of its fraudulent GemCoin crypto scheme.
He was sentenced to prison by U.S. District Judge John F. Walter., who found that he promoted a massive scam using a “litany of lies.”
In addition to serving in prison, Judge Walters also ordered Chen to pay restitution of $1,885,094 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
The GemCoin crypto scheme mastermind is also known as “Li Chen” and “Boss.” He was the owner and CEO of U.S. Fine Investment Arts Inc. (UFSIA) and six other companies.
How did Chen lure investors to his GemCoin crypto scheme?
Chen deceived 72,000 investors by falsely promoting USFIA as a successful multi-level marketing company. He told investors that his firm extracts amber and other gemstones from mines it owns in the United States, the Dominican Republic, Argentina, and Mexico. In reality, his company does not own any mine. The mines he was telling investors were non-existent.
