‘Bruno Block‘ Amir Bruno Elmaani, the creator of Oyster Protocol, was sentenced to four years in prison for tax crimes totaling more than $5.5 million, according to CryptoPotato. The verdict was announced by Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, who emphasized the gravity of Elmaani’s actions, which breached investor confidence and tax regulations.
Elmaani sold Pearl tokens through an initial coin offering (ICO), with the goal of keeping a “founder’s share” for themselves. He purposefully kept Oyster Protocol Inc. under wraps by using a shell corporation unrelated to his real name.
According to U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, players in the cryptocurrency markets are required to abide by established standards, and this case serves as a clear reminder of what happens to those who don’t.
Elmaani’s lavish spending patterns made his tax cheating scheme even more obvious. He made large purchases in 2018, even though he filed a fictitious 2017 tax return, claiming only about $15,000 in revenue from a “patent design” business. These included buying two mansions, buying many yachts, investing a large sum of money in a carbon-fiber composite company, and making a lot of purchases at home improvement stores. Because of Elmaani‘s activities, the United States lost out on about $5,523,794 in taxes.
Elmaani greatly expanded the quantity of Pearl tokens in late October 2018 by minting additional ones for personal use by taking advantage of his access to blockchain technology. Investors’ Pearl tokens saw a sharp decline in value as a result of this scam, which also caused trade to stop and ultimately led to its delisting from the main exchange.
Elmaani’s conviction stems from dishonest behavior pertaining to the cryptocurrency known as “Oyster Pearl.” He advertised Pearl coins in September and October of 2017 and stated they would be utilized for the Oyster Protocol, an online data storage platform.