- Moshe Hogeg received support for his project, TOMI, from users on social media platform X.
- Law enforcement reportedly have apt evidence to support the charges.
Moshe Hogeg, a businessman from Israel, was arrested on charges of cryptocurrency fraud and sexual crimes. The individual was the owner of Israeli football club Beitar Jerusalem FC. Moreover, Jerusalem-based newspaper Times of Israel reported that Hogeg raised $290 Million from four cryptocurrency projects.
Moshe Hogeg Denies Accusations
The accused reportedly used the funds for personal ends. Police questioned 180 people involved in the case. Furthermore, they found 900 pieces of evidence during the process. Hogeg is denying the accusations against him. In 2021, he won a court battle against a Seattle-based investor who sued him and his crypto project, STX Technologies, in 2019.
In November 2021, however, police arrested Moshe Hogeg and seven others. Israel’s Channel 12 during that time said the fraud case was “very weak.” Coincidently, this was also a burgeoning time for the cryptocurrency market. Several projects including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL) and more peaked to their all-time highs.
Moshe was under house arrest after being in official custody for a month. In July 2023, he asked people for support regarding his privacy-focused crypto project ‘TOMI.’ Additionally, his post on social media platform X garnered staggering support from users. Hogeg had said that the product “is of great value.”
According to Lahav 433’s National Fraud Investigation Unit, the law enforcement have apt evidence to charge Hogeg for sexual misconduct and financial frauds. The Israeli government does not deem crypto assets legal in context to a currency’s definition but treat them as taxable assets.
Hogeg reportedly misled investors using forged documents. Furthermore, a couple of projects he promised were revealed to be bogus. Additionally, police believe sexual misconduct case and crypto projects could be connected. He reportedly paid over $2,000 to meet girls involved in the former case.
Investment Scams Most Common Crypto Scams
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), an independent agency of the United States, people have lost over $1 Billion to cryptocurrency scams between 2021 and 2022. Most of these were investment scams. A project host in these fraudulent schemes promises profit to users if they agree to invest in the initiative.
OneCoin scam is considered to deliver $25 Billion when it was active. Sam Bankman-Fried, former CEO of now bankrupt FTX crypto exchange, was charged with fraud allegations. The event reportedly delivered a damage of $8 Billion to the customers.
Attackers prefer social media websites to promote fraudulent schemes. Recently, Thailand’s Ministry of Digital Economy and Society said that over 200K people were tricked by crypto scams disguised under Facebook Ads. Moreover, the agency is ready to submit a proposal to cease operation of the social media giant in the nation.
