Sam Ikkurty, Solicitation Fraud, Illinois 2024
CHICAGO, IL – September 3, 2024 – Sam Ikkurty of Oregon has been slapped with a massive $209,614,892 judgment following a ruling by Judge Mary Rowland of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) brought the case against Ikkurty and his associated companies – Jafia, LLC, Ikkurty Capital, LLC d/b/a Rose City Income Fund I LP, Rose City Income Fund II, and Seneca Ventures, LLC – alleging solicitation fraud and misappropriation.
The judgment, entered on September 3, follows a previous summary judgment in favor of the CFTC on all counts. The CFTC has also recovered over $18 million in digital assets that had been stolen and were in the possession of a court-appointed receiver.
Ikkurty is ordered to pay $83,757,249 in restitution to customers who invested in his so-called income funds. Additionally, he must disgorge $36,967,285 in unlawful gains (offset by restitution already paid) and pay a civil monetary penalty of $110,901,855. He is also responsible for an outstanding $14,071,000 contempt fine stemming from the unlawful transfer of digital assets while the lawsuit was pending, and must repay $884,788 in professional expenses advanced to fund his defense.
The court’s order permanently bans Ikkurty and Jafia from engaging in any activity regulated by the CFTC, including registering with the agency, trading digital assets or commodity interests, soliciting funds for such investments, or violating the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and related regulations.
According to CFTC Director of Enforcement Ian McGinley, the defendants operated a “plain, old-fashioned Ponzi scheme” disguised as cutting-edge crypto and carbon investments. The court found that Ikkurty misrepresented the nature of his “crypto hedge funds” and falsely claimed they generated “net profits,” when in reality no profits were ever returned to investors. Evidence showed the fund lost 98.99% of its value in a matter of months.
The CFTC’s investigation revealed Ikkurty invested in volatile digital asset commodities despite promising participants a more stable investment. He also lacked the purported crypto expertise he claimed, with his experience limited to losing personal Bitcoin to a hack. The court rejected Ikkurty’s claims that misrepresentations were unintentional or immaterial. The carbon offset program was also deemed a Ponzi scheme by the court.
Millions of dollars in recovered digital assets remain under the control of the court.
Source: CFTC.gov
Source: https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8959-24