IcomTech Senior Promoter Sentenced to Six Years in Crypto Fraud

• IcomTech promoters exploited crypto hype to defraud working-class, Spanish-speaking investors across the United States.
• U.S. prosecutors continue targeting not only founders but also senior crypto Ponzi scheme promoters.
• The IcomTech case highlights rising enforcement against large-scale cryptocurrency investment fraud.

Another significant crypto fraud case in the U.S achieved another milestone with a federal prosecutor sentencing a top IcomTech promoter to a long prison term. The government indicated that the decision resembled ongoing enforcement of massive Ponzi schemes in digital assets. The case has demonstrated the use of trust in intimate communities as a tool of crypto frauds. It also thumped on the attention of the government to be accountable to promoters and not only founders.

Court details and sentencing outcome

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York, Magdaleno Mendoza, 56, was sentenced to 71 months in jail. In July 2025, Mendoza pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and illegal entry. According to the Department of Justice, the sentence was handed down by Judge Paul G. Gardephe on Thursday.

U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton indicated that Mendoza was central to recruiting victims to IcomTech. Clayton said that Mendoza was specifically targeting Spanish-speaking, working-class investors that had minor crypto experience. Prosecutors believed that Mendoza facilitated the theft of millions of dollars by taking advantage of trust and spreading false promises related to cryptocurrency.

The court issued the sentence after convicting other IcomTech leaders. Founder David Carmona received a 121-month prison term in October 2024. In January 2024, the court sentenced former CEO Marco Ruiz Ochoa to five years in prison. According to federal authorities, such outcomes demonstrated a well-organized attempt at breaking the fraud network. Similar enforcement patterns are common in crypto crime news of KryptoVaultDaily.

How the IcomTech crypto scheme operated

Court filings stated that IcomTech launched in mid-2018 as a supposed crypto mining and trading business. The company advertised guaranteed daily returns from trading and mining. Prosecutors said IcomTech never conducted any legitimate trading or mining activities.

Mendoza, who was said to be one of the most senior promoters of IcomTech, was a close associate of Carmona. Law enforcers indicated that he had moved throughout the U.S. to organize promotional events. He also gave presentations at his restaurant in Los Angeles region. It is there that he received thousands of dollars in cash as a result of victims.

Victims entrusted their money in cash, checks, wire transfers and cryptocurrency. They were granted entry into a web portal with counterfeit gains. The majority of the victims were unable to draw money and lost all their money. The prosecutors allege that the victim’s money was used by promoters to pay previous investors and for luxury spending.

Towards the end of 2019, IcomTech ceased payment and fell into collapse. Mendoza would go on to promote a minimum of three other crypto Ponzi schemes, authorities said. The court also ruled that Mendoza was an illegal immigrant in the U.S. since he had been deported several times.

Along with the prison, Mendoza should pay restitution in the amount of 789,218.94. He has to lose out on 1.5 million and his house in Downey, California. Homeland Security Investigations spearheaded the investigation with the help of SEC and CFTC.