Palm Beach County Man Sentenced to Prison for Role in Ponzi Scheme

Juan Tacuri, of Greenacres, Florida, was sentenced to 240 months in prison for his role in a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme operating as “Forcount” that defrauded victims out of approximately $8.4 million. Tacuri was additionally sentenced to one year of supervised release and ordered to forfeit nearly $4 million and certain real estate purchased with victims’ funds. He was also ordered to pay more than $3.6 million in restitution. The sentence follows a guilty plea to a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Tacuri was the principal promoter of Forcount, later renamed to Weltsys, a purported cryptocurrency mining and trading company. The investigation revealed that he falsely promised that the company’s cryptocurrency trading and mining would result in daily returns on victims’ investments and the doubling of those investments within six months. However, the company was not engaged in cryptocurrency trading and mining. The victims’ money was used to pay other victims to further promote the scheme and for Tacuri’s personal benefit. Promoters, including Tacuri, targeted hundreds of retail investors primarily from Spanish-speaking communities throughout the United States and other countries.  

The case is the result of a joint investigation with the OFR, the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the Department of Justice Office of International Affairs, the New York City Police Department, and the New York City Sheriff’s Office (Department of Finance). The Florida Department of Financial Services Criminal Investigations Division assisted in securing the arrest of Tacuri.

Read the press release.