A former Guam resident was sentenced to serve four years in federal prison for scamming more than 100 investors in a cryptocurrency case.
On Jan. 11, William Ichioka was sentenced to four years for charges of wire fraud, two counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false or fraudulent tax return, committing fraud in connection with the purchase and sale of securities, and engaging in commodities fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Northern District of California stated.
In addition to the sentence, Ichioka was ordered to spend five years on supervised release and pay a $5 million fine. According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Ichioka will appear in court again next month for a federal judge to determine restitution-related issues.
Ichioka, sentenced in the Northern District Court of California, is a 2011 St. John’s School graduate. His family members are the founders and current leaders of Guam City Hill, the parent company of the Guam Plaza Hotel and JP Superstore.
After graduating from the Upper Tumon school, Ichioka moved to California to attend the University of San Francisco. Following his graduation in 2015, he became a self-employed investor who, by the age of 23, said he was a multimillionaire.
By 2018, Ichioka was living in New York and allegedly started a scheme in which he would fraudulently acquire “tens of millions of dollars from over 100 persons and entities” with the promise he would give investors a 10% return every 30 business days.
“Ichioka convinced unsuspecting investors to pour money into his bogus venture with false promises of legitimate profits. His deceitful financial scheme victimized more than 100 people, including his friends and family. I hope today’s sentence brings them some justice,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Tripp said in the U.S. Attorney’s release.
According to court documents, Ichioka used the funds for cryptocurrency investments for his expenses, such as rent and groceries, luxury watches, jewelry, and vehicles.
In 2019, he started Ichioka Ventures, a business designed to assist investors. It was used by Ichioka to “further perpetuate the scheme,” court documents state.
“For instance, Ichioka privately acknowledged at the end of 2019 – unbeknownst to investors – that the ‘company hasn’t made any money since we started.’ Ichioka never told investors this fact,” federal court records state.
In addition to hiding the lack of profits, Ichioka also allegedly doctored documents to falsify the amount of money he had and falsely represented his income to the Internal Revenue Service.
Ichioka owes at least $21 million to investors and $40 million to his family members, court documents state.