ChainThink report, on December 19, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Magdaleno Mendoza, 56, a senior promoter of the cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme IcomTech, was sentenced to 71 months in prison for his involvement in a large-scale fraud targeting investors nationwide.

U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York stated that Mendoza played a pivotal role in recruiting victims, particularly within Spanish-speaking working-class communities. "As a senior promoter at IcomTech, Mendoza helped target inexperienced investors who spoke Spanish, including our fellow residents in New York. He and his accomplices exploited victims' trust, stealing millions of dollars in hard-earned wages from the working class."

IcomTech was established in mid-2018, purportedly as a cryptocurrency mining and trading company promising guaranteed returns to investors. However, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice, the entity never engaged in the promised trading or mining activities. Instead, it used funds from new investors to pay earlier participants and finance the lavish lifestyles of its promoters.