One of the main promoters behind the Forcount cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme has pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to commit wire fraud charge in New York.

Juan Tacuri was at the forefront of the "Ponzi" scheme which chalked up $8.4 million from mostly Spanish-speaking investors around the world, the United States Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York said in a June 5 statement.

“Tacuri was one of the scheme’s most successful promoters and reaped millions of dollars from his participation in the fraud.”

The scheme was based on false promises that investors would receive returns from Forcount’s cryptocurrency trading and mining operations, including a doubling of their initial investment within the first six months.

“With this guilty plea, Juan Tacuri is being held to account for taking advantage of retail investors and selling them a fabricated investment opportunity,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said.

Tacuri will be sentenced on Sept. 24, 2024 by Judge Analisa Torres, who is familiar with matters related to the cryptocurrency industry.

The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Tacuri was charged back in December 2022 along with Francisley Da Silva and Antonia Perez Hernandez for the role they played in the scheme between 2017-2021. The latter two have not been convicted or pleaded guilty.

Williams said Tacuri spent millions of dollars from victim funds on “luxury goods and real estate.”

Part of the plea deal involved Juan Tacuriforfeiting nearly $4 million and real estate which were purchased through victim funds.

Like many Ponzi promoters, Tacuri traveled throughout the U.S. to host lavish expos and community presentations aimed at luring victims to invest into the Ponzi scheme.

He would stress the importance of achieving financial freedom while boasting about the money that he had been making through the scheme, the United States Attorney's Office said.

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Those convinced by Tacuri would sign up to Forcount’s portal and see “profits” accumulate — however, many victims were unable to withdraw these “profits” and ultimately lost their entire investments.

The few who were able to make withdrawals also had to deal with excuses, delays and hidden fees, the United States Attorney's Office added.

Forcount later started offering cryptocurrency “Mindexcoin” as a means to inject more liquidity into the scheme.

Tacuri claimed the coin would rise significantly in value when companies started accepting it as payment for goods and services.

But this was “false” and resulted in further financial losses to victims, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

“This Office will not stop pursuing Ponzi schemers like Tacuri, particularly where they target regular, working people who are in dire straits financially,” Williams concluded.

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