Simona Weinglass of The Times of Israel reports more arrests in the notorious binary options schemes operator Yukom Communications. Ori Maymon, 36, Nissim Alfasi, 37, Afik Tori, 30, Oron Montgomery, 41, Dave Barzilay, 44, and Gilad Mazugi, 39, were arrested at the request of U.S. prosecutors. However, their lawyers are fighting the extradition. Former CEO Lee Elbaz received 22 years of prison time and a $28 million restitution payments order. In March 2022, Elad Bigelman, former brand manager for BigOption, was sentenced to a 36-months prison term. The case will continue with a few more sentences, it seems!
The six men’s arrest is the latest development in the US prosecution of 21 owners, managers, and employees of the Israeli Yukom Communications, which operated the binary options schemes BinaryBook, BigOption, and BinaryOnline. On August 7, 2019, Lee Elbaz was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud. In December 2019, the Court sentenced Elbaz to a 22-prison term to be followed by three years of supervised release. On August 7, 2020, she was ordered to pay restitution of $28 million to victims of the scam.
Read the Lee Elbaz reports here.
Lee Elbaz was the CEO of Yukom. The masterminds and beneficial owners behind the Yukom Scheme, Yossi Herzog and his partner Kobi Cohen, are still on the run. They are wanted not only by the U.S. prosecutors but also by the U.S. CFTC.
