Jay Mazini, NYC Instagram celeb, accused of Bitcoin wire fraud scheme
In this photo illustration, a visual representation of the digital Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin is displayed on April 03, 2019 in Paris, France.(Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images)
NEW YORK - An NYC-area Instagram personality has been charged with wire fraud by federal authorities after allegedly cheating his followers out of millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin.
Authorities say that Jebara Igbara, who had millions of followers on Instagram under the name "Jay Mazini," used his social media popularity to dupe followers into selling him bitcoin by falsely claiming to have sent wire transfers of money in exchange for the cryptocurrency.
In reality, prosecutors said, Igbara never sent the money and stole at least $2.5M worth of Bitcoin from victims.
"As we allege, Igbara’s social media persona served as a backdrop for enticing victims to sell him their Bitcoin at attractive, but inflated, values. A behind-the-scenes look, however, revealed things aren’t always as they seem. There was nothing philanthropic about the Bitcoin transactions Igbara engaged in with his victims. A quick search of the Interwebs today will reveal an entirely different image of this multimillion-dollar scammer." stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney. "If anyone out there has information about this case, we urge you to file a complaint online at tips.fbi.gov."
According to a complaint, between January and March Igbara had offered to pay his social media followers $52,000 for one Bitcoin, which had a value of roughly $47,000 at the time.
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However, Igbara never fully paid the sellers, and investigators said that he would send them false confirmations of wire transfers for the promised amounts.
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"As we allege, Igbara’s social media persona served as a backdrop for enticing victims to sell him their Bitcoin at attractive, but inflated, values. A behind-the-scenes look, however, revealed things aren’t always as they seem. There was nothing philanthropic about the Bitcoin transactions Igbara engaged in with his victims. A quick search of the Interwebs today will reveal an entirely different image of this multimillion-dollar scammer." stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney. "If anyone out there has information about this case, we urge you to file a complaint online at tips.fbi.gov."