Crypto ponzi scheme IcomTech’s senior promoter sentenced to six years in prison

A senior promoter of the crypto Ponzi scheme IcomTech has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison for his role in the large-scale fraud operation that targeted investors across the U.S.

Magdaleno Mendoza, 56, received a 71-month prison term — the latest in a series of sentences tied to IcomTech — after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and illegal reentry into the U.S. in July, according to a Thursday statement from the Department of Justice.

U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York said Mendoza’s role was critical in recruiting investor victims, particularly within Spanish-speaking, working-class communities.

“As a senior promoter of IcomTech, Mendoza helped prey on Spanish-speaking victims who lacked investment experience, including our fellow New Yorkers,” said Clayton. “By exploiting trust and the promise of ‘crypto,’ he and his co-conspirators stole millions from working-class people.”

Mendoza’s sentencing came after IcomTech founder David Carmona was sentenced to 121 months — nearly 10 years — in prison in October 2024 after prosecutors characterized Carmona as the mastermind of the fraudulent operation. Former IcomTech CEO Marco Ruiz Ochoa also received a five-year prison sentence in January 2024.

IcomTech

IcomTech launched in mid-2018 as a purported crypto mining and trading company, promising guaranteed profits in exchange for investor funds. In reality, the enterprise used new investor money to pay earlier participants and to fund promoters’ lavish lifestyles, while never engaging in the promised trading or mining activities, according to the statement.

According to an earlier release from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, several IcomTech operators fraudulently solicited at least $1 million from 190 individuals in the U.S. and other countries.

Mendoza, described in court documents as one of IcomTech’s most senior promoters, regularly coordinated with Carmona and traveled across the U.S. to host promotional events.

In addition to the prison term, Mendoza was ordered to pay nearly $790,000 in restitution and forfeit $1.5 million. He was also ordered to forfeit his interest in his Downey, California home that authorities said was bought with proceeds from the crime.