Trial of binary options fraudster Lee Elbaz scheduled for January 2019

Maria Nikolova

The Maryland District Court scheduled a two-week trial of the former CEO of Yukom Communications for January 7, 2019.

The criminal proceedings against Lee Elbaz – the former CEO of Israel-based Yukom Communications, a purported binary options sales and marketing company operating on behalf of BinaryBook and BigOption, continue at the Maryland District Court.

The Court has announced the schedule of the pretrial proceedings against Ms Elbaz. The two-week jury trial is set to take place on January 7, 2019.

The US Government has until June 20, 2018, to reply to Ms Elbaz’s motions to dismiss. Let’s recall that she is seeking to dismiss the indictment against her for failure to allege proper venue and for failure to state an offense. More interestingly, she has requested the so-called bill of particulars (a request for more detailed information). She has demanded that the United States Government reveals the identities of her co-conspirators and the victims of the crimes she allegedly committed.

Count One (conspiracy to commit wire fraud) references more than eight unidentified individuals who shared marketing materials with one another and with Ms Elbaz, and those materials are alleged to contain misrepresentations. At no point, however, the Indictment provides the names of these individuals or their personal or professional connection to Ms Elbaz, the defense counsel argues.

Furthermore, the defendant says that “the Indictment fails to provide the names of those who are allegedly victims of the charged offenses”. According to the defense, “the identities of these unnamed individuals are essential for purposes of trial preparation because only with that information will Ms. Elbaz be able to assess the Government’s case”.

According to the Indictment, Yukom Communications provided investor “retention” for BinaryBook and BigOption, promoting and marketing binary options, and those binary options were fraudulently sold and marketed. The indictment further alleges that in her role as CEO of Yukom, Elbaz, along with her co-conspirators and subordinates, misled investors by falsely claiming to represent the interests of investors but that, in fact, the owners of BinaryBook and BigOption profited when investors lost money.

From in or about May 2014 through in or about June 2017, Elbaz was an employee of Yukom and served in various capacities, including as Chief Executive Officer from at least in or about March 2016 through December 2016. In startling statements made during the detention hearing of Elbaz, her counsel stated that “CEO in Israel may not mean the same thing here” and that she used the designation to simply to “make the customers feel important”.

The case is captioned USA v. Elbaz (8:18-cr-00157).

Read this next

Retail FX

Banxso announces 8.7% interest rate on deposits in South Africa

“With Banxso, they can enjoy the benefits of both worlds – earning competitive interest and having the freedom to trade, all within the same platform.”

Industry News

FINRA to publish transaction details in U.S. Treasury securities

“Consistent with our longstanding practice, FINRA is introducing greater transparency in a calibrated and careful manner, benefiting liquidity and resilience in this critical market while also mitigating potential information leakage concerns.”

Institutional FX

OpenYield launches “cheap and easy” fixed income trading for brokers

“We’re on a mission to make bonds cheap and easy to trade, and are excited about the opportunity to build generational capital markets infrastructure.”

Digital Assets

Sumsub and Mercuryo publish a guide for VASPs: “Mastering Travel Rule Compliance”

“At Sumsub, we’ve concentrated our efforts on filling the gap in understanding the complexity of Travel Rule regulation and helping organizations find the best solution to stay safe and compliant while minimizing costs and avoiding potential risks of non-compliance. This guide we created with Mercuryo, our trusted partner, is the ultimate navigation tool all VASPs can consult.”

Digital Assets

Bitget Wallet Leads with Record Swap Volume & New Crypto Innovations

This week, Bitget Wallet achieved a milestone by surpassing Metamask with a record 388,757 Swap order transactions, securing the global lead. The significant 7-day trading volume, almost 68,000 more than its rival, underscores its liquidity and user trust. This robust activity signals Bitget Wallet’s prominent role and reliability in the dynamic crypto market.

Digital Assets

Embarking on a Digital Currency Journey

Imagine you’ve stumbled upon a treasure map, leading you to untold riches hidden in the vastness of the internet. Instead of gold coins and jewel-encrusted goblets, this treasure comes in the form of digital currencies, the modern-day loot coveted by many.

Reviews

Traders Union Experts Share The Trading Analyst Review For 2024

Navigating options trading in rapidly shifting markets poses a considerable challenge. This is where options trading alert services become invaluable. They aid traders in keeping abreast of evolving opportunities and market trends. In this assessment, Traders Union experts scrutinize The Trading Analyst alert service to ascertain its efficacy. 

Digital Assets

BlockDAG’s Presale Achieves $9.9M: Aiming For A 5000-Fold ROI As Cardano’s Price Rises And Fantom Launches Sonic

Explore Cardano’s surge, Sonic’s efficiency, and why BlockDAG’s growth makes it the top crypto choice. A deep dive into the future of blockchain investments.

Digital Assets

US, UK probe $20 billion Tether transfers tied to Russian exchange.

U.S. and UK authorities are investigating the movement of $20 billion in the USD-pegged stablecoin tether (USDT) through Moscow-based exchange Garantex.

<