Crypto scammer is sentenced to another 12 years in prison for not compensating his victim

Despite having committed to the Court, the involved did not return the originally stolen crypto funds to the victim. The court imposed 12 years in jail in determining that there was no willingness to comply with the agreed.

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• Nicholas Truglia had been sentenced in 2022 for a fraud with cryptocurrencies of USD $ 20 million.
  
• The authorities determined that he did not comply with the restitution payment to which he had committed.
  
• The judge argued that Truglia tried to evade justice and prioritized luxuries about his obligation with the victim.

Nicholas Truglia, a convict cryptocurrency scammer, was sentenced again in the United States, this time to 12 years in prison for not fulfilling the payment of compensation to his victim.

The decision was issued by federal judge Alvin Hellerstein, After verifying that the one involved had not paid a single dollar of the more than USD $ 20 million that was due to a case of fraud related to cryptocurrency.

A fraud scheme

The case dates back to December 2022, when Truglia was initially sentenced to 18 months in prison for his participation in an illegal operation that involved the theft of a cryptocurrency portfolio valued at USD $ 20 million.

According to the US Department of Justice, Truglia conspired to obtain access to the victim’s digital purse through an attack known as “Sim swap”, or card supplantation Sim, which allowed him to intercept the authentication controls linked to the affected phone number.

Once he accessed the funds, he helped drain the content of the portfolio and convert the assets to BTC, culminating in one of the scams of this type most notorious reported by means such as Bloomberg and The Block.

The commitment of restitution and breach

At the time, Truglia declared himself guilty of conspiracy to commit electronic fraud. As part of the agreement, he agreed to pay more than USD $ 20 million to the victim for restitution. Judicial documents of that time indicated that it had more than USD $ 53 million in assets between cryptocurrencies, art and jewelry, which made the damage repair feasible.

However, throughout the following year, Truglia did not make any payment. Documents presented to the Court on April 25 revealed that, instead of complying with restitution, The defendant had acquired luxury goods worth USD $ 92,000, including designer clothes, expensive watches and exclusive shoes.

“The refusal of Mr. Truglia to account for what he possesses, and his preference for luxury about his obligation with the victim, demonstrates his deliberate intention of not paying,” affirms the judicial document.

The new sentence and defense arguments

Faced with this breach, Judge Hellerstein determined that the original sentence had not been enough. In a document dated July 2, he said that Truglia had “Actively evaded judicial efforts and authorities to enforce their obligation”hence “The re-sentenance is appropriate.”

The defense of Truglia presented an appeal arguing that the defendant had made efforts to pay, delivering “All the valuable assets you had access”including the balance of a bank account in Wells Fargo. Also, their lawyers alleged that a re-sentenance would violate the constitutional rights of their client, including due process and protection against double incrimination.

This case highlights the challenges faced by the authorities by enforcing restitution in financial crimes linked to cryptoactive. Despite the judicial commitment and the apparent availability of funds, Truglia avoided fulfilling his legal responsibility.

Article written by a content editor. Edited by Angel Di Matteo / Diariobitcoin

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