US Sentences Cryptocurrency Pearl Founder to 4 Years
Bruno Block, also known as Amir Bruno Elmaani, the founder of the cryptocurrency project Oyster Pearl, has been sentenced by a Southern District of New York judge, Colleen McMahon.
He was sentenced to four years in prison for tax violations, which is the maximum allowed by law.
Elmaani had pleaded guilty on April 5, 2023 to secretly issuing and selling Pearl tokens for personal gain and failing to pay income taxes on this activity, resulting in a fiscal loss of $5.5 million.
US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, stated that Elmaani had violated his obligation to pay taxes on his cryptocurrency profits and had also betrayed the trust of investors in his token launch.
Williams also emphasized the importance of participants in the digital asset market following regulations, and that those who do not will be relentlessly pursued.
Elmaani was charged by law enforcement officers in December 2020.
In the plea agreement, he admitted to launching a crypto project under the pseudonym Bruno Block in 2017. This project held an ICO for Pearl (PRL) tokens in October 2017.
