Oyster Protocol Founder Gets Jail Sentence For Tax Fraud
Cryptocurrency founder Amir Elmaani is going to jail for not paying taxes on millions he earned. He owes $5.5 million
Amir Bruno Elmaani, who founded the Oyster Protocol cryptocurrency, will go to jail for four years because he didn't pay taxes.
The U.S. Attorney's Office announced on Oct. 31 that Elmaani secretly created and sold Pearl tokens and didn't pay taxes on the money he made. He admitted that he caused over $5.5 million in tax losses.
He promised people a new cryptocurrency called Pearl in 2017. But in 2018, without telling anyone, he created many new Pearl tokens and sold them for personal income.
He earned millions from this plan. But in 2017, he told tax officials that he only made $15,000. In 2018, he said he made no money. But he spent more than $10 million on things like boats, houses, and gold bars.
He bought a house using a fake company and another house with the help of two friends. He even had gold on one of his boats.
He never paid taxes on the cryptocurrencies. Sometimes, he asked friends and family to help him hide the money. Besides jail, he must also pay back the $5.5 million he owes in taxes.
