Crypto CEO Horst Jicha goes on lam ahead of Brooklyn trial for stealing $150M

A cryptocurrency CEO awaiting proceedings successful Brooklyn Federal Court implicit accusations helium stole $150 million from investors has tampered with his ankle bracelet and gone connected the run, prosecutors said Thursday.

Horst Jicha, a German national who was busted successful December connected a national indictment, hasn’t been heard from since Oct. 3, erstwhile Brooklyn Federal Court’s Pretrial Services bureau got an alert helium messed with his ankle monitor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kaitlin Farrell said.

That triggered a program for Jicha, 64, to conscionable with Pretrial officials connected Friday but Jicha ne'er showed up, starring them to interaction prosecutors, who secured a warrant for his arrest.

On Thursday, his lawyer Marissel Descalzo told District Judge Orelia Merchant, who’s overseeing his pending trial, that her past interaction with Jicha was Sept. 28.

Jicha ran a European institution called USI Tech which promised investors a 1%-a-day instrumentality connected their investments into bitcoin packages for 140-day periods, according to the indictment.

“Now you mightiness beryllium thinking, this is excessively bully to beryllium true. Not lone is it existent but it really GETS EVEN BETTER,” the institution bragged connected a 2017 promotional video, urging investors to acceptable their accounts to “auto-rebuy.”

It each turned retired to beryllium a scam and erstwhile regulators successful the U.S. started looking into USI Tech successful 2018 the level unopen down and astir $150 cardinal successful Bitcoin and Ethereum was transferred into Jicha’s idiosyncratic crypto account, prosecutors say.

A ocular practice of the integer Cryptocurrency Bitcoin. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Jicha, a German national surviving successful Brazil and Spain, was arrested successful December portion vacationing successful Miami.

He was free connected $5 cardinal bond aft his apprehension successful December, secured successful portion by a $1 cardinal slope cheque helium signed, and by a enslaved signed by his partner, his big children and their loved ones.

He had to surrender his passport, determination to New York City and taxable to location detention, though helium was aboriginal granted support to enactment retired astatine a Retro Fitness successful Brooklyn for 2 hours a day.

Merchant, astatine the government’s request, kept Jicha’s proceedings connected way to statesman successful March but that day whitethorn get cancelled if he’s not backmost successful custody by Oct. 23.

Jicha is charged with ligament fraud conspiracy, securities fraud and wealth laundering charges and could look up to 30 years down bars if convicted of the apical number against him.