ChainCatcher reports that the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has fined New York resident William Koo Ichioka $36 million for allegedly defrauding cryptocurrency investors with promises of high returns and using the funds for personal expenses.

According to a September 20 statement, the CFTC ordered Ichioka to “pay restitution of $31 million to victims” and an additional $5 million civil penalty for running a fraudulent forex and cryptocurrency scheme. The CFTC said Ichioka launched the scheme in 2018, taking in funds from investors and falsely promising a “10% return every 30 business days.” It further claimed that while Ichioka did invest “some of the funds” in foreign currencies and cryptocurrencies as he had promised investors, he “commingled” investors’ money with his own and used it for his own personal expenses, including “rent for his personal residence, jewelry including watches, and luxury vehicles.”

This decision comes more than a year after a court issued a “preliminary consent order” in August 2023 permanently barring Ichioka from "trading in any CFTC-regulated market, as well as barring him from registering with the CFTC."