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Horst Jicha, former head of alleged crypto firm USI-Tech, has reportedly tampered with his ankle monitor and fled amid his arrest for a purported $180 million cryptocurrency scam. Jicha, who was under house arrest in New York, is due to face multiple charges including securities fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors claim Jicha promised investors 1% daily returns and that over $180 million in Bitcoin and Ether have disappeared from USI-Tech’s scheme, allegedly transferred by Jicha to his own crypto exchange account.

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A guy who was under house arrest is apparently on the lam after tinkering with his ankle bracelet. He was under arrest for his supposed role in a $180 million cryptocurrency scam, according to prosecutors in New York.

Enter Horst Jicha. This dude used to be the boss of supposed crypto trading company USI-Tech. It’s believed that he fiddled with his ankle monitor and did a runner on Oct. 4, breaking his pretrial terms, court filings reveal.

After Jicha’s bracelet went dead, pretrial services notified the government roughly 12 hours later, they were quick to ask for an arrest warrant against the runaway.

Jicha, a German guy, was picked up on Dec. 23, 2023 in Miami, Florida, where he was holidaying after entering the United States for the first time in over five years. He high tailed it out of the country in 2018 after receiving cease-and-desist letters from US authorities.

On a hefty $5 million bond guaranteed by his partner and kids, he was put under house arrest in New York, as reported on Oct. 11.

Expected on trial on March 31, Jicha is looking at several charges tied to his alleged role at USI-Tech, including securities fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges.

Allegedly, Jicha promised investors a sweet daily return of 1% on their investments if they got on board with USI-Tech’s scheme. Prosecutors allege that over $180 million in Bitcoin and Ether are missing from USI-Tech’s supposed fraud scheme, and they say Jicha transferred these funds to a crypto exchange account under his control.

USI-Tech, which was allegedly established in Europe in May 2017 and pushed hard to US investors later that year, closed down on Jan. 8, 2018, blaming investors for making the misleading buzz about its products. Investors were left high and dry, unable to withdraw funds from USI-Tech’s platform.

Source: Cointelegraph