Jabara Igbara pleads guilty for stealing $2.5M in BTC from his Instagram followers

Jabara Igbara, better known by his Instagram handle “Jay Manzini,” pled guilty to money laundering and wire fraud conspiracy. He allegedly used the popular media platform to scam people out of $8 million by spreading false information about investment opportunities.

Igbara informed his followers that he planned to purchase a substantial quantity of bitcoin but that official exchanges would not permit him to do so. He asked Instagram users to transfer him Bitcoin, promising high fees in exchange. Obviously, he made off with almost $2.5 million worth of the leading cryptocurrency from the fooled victims.

However, he acknowledged using his social media profile to promote financial items to New York Muslims. He offered to pay above-market prices for the bitcoin his admirers sent to his wallet and presented fake wire transfer photos. In the end, the scammer got $8 million from victims.

Bitcoin Ponzi scheme by Igbara

Igbara also operated a multi-million bitcoin Ponzi scheme. He advertised on his Instagram stories claiming he wanted to buy so much BTC that Binance and Coinbase would not let him. According to the United States Department of Justice: 

“With today’s plea, the defendant has admitted leveraging his Instagram popularity to prey upon innocent investors and steal at least $8 million of their hard-earned money. Together with our agency partners, this Office is committed to bringing scammers to justice.”

Igbara may receive a lesser sentence as he pleads guilty. As in September, a Florida resident Joshua David Nicholas confessed to stealing $100 million in crypto from investors and was sentenced to five years in prison. 

The strict regulatory structure has locked many scammers over the course. Recently, a prisoner Ross Ulbricht stole the headlines when he pled guilty to his crimes. Many crypto related names such as Alexey Pertsev, the developer of the Ethereum-based cryptocurrency and Virgil Griffith, a former Ethereum developer, are surfacing as a result of strict scrutiny.