Binary options fraudster Lee Elbaz appeals from amended judgment ordering her to pay $28m
The former CEO of Israel-based Yukom Communications has already challenged her prison sentence but now appeals from the Court’s ruling ordering her to pay $28 million in restitution.
Binary options fraudster Lee Elbaz, the former CEO of Yukom Communications, is appealing from the amended judgment entered in the criminal case against her at the Maryland District Court.
As FinanceFeeds has reported, earlier in August Judge Theodore D. Chuang of the Maryland District Court determined that Lee Elbaz, a/k/a Lena Green, will have to pay restitution of $28 million. The restitution adds to the prison sentence issued as to Elbaz about a year ago – she was sentenced to a total term of 264 months and to a supervised release for 3 years as to each of Counts 1, 2, 3 and 4, with the terms to run concurrently with each other.
Elbaz has already challenged the prison sentence. Now, she is appealing from the amended order that includes the restitution amount. On August 24, 2020, counsel for Elbaz filed a notice of appeal with the Maryland District Court.
According to the evidence presented at trial, Elbaz, the former CEO of Yukom Communications, and her co-conspirators fraudulently sold and marketed binary options to investors located in the United States and throughout the world through two websites, known as BinaryBook and BigOption.
The evidence showed that in her role as CEO of Yukom, Elbaz, along with her co-conspirators and subordinates, misled investors using BinaryBook and BigOption by falsely claiming to represent the interests of investors when, in fact, the owners of BinaryBook and BigOption profited when investors lost money; by misrepresenting the suitability of and expected return on investments through BinaryBook and BigOption; by providing investors with false names and qualifications and falsely claiming to be working from London; and by misrepresenting whether and how investors could withdraw funds from their accounts.
Representatives of BinaryBook and BigOption, working under Elbaz’s supervision, misrepresented the terms of so-called “bonuses,” “risk free trades” and “insured trades,” and deceptively used these supposed benefits in a manner that in fact harmed investors, the evidence showed.