US Court wants to know about Israeli “call center industry” as binary options fraud case continues

Maria Nikolova

Lee Elbaz, the former CEO of Israel-based Yukom Communications, will have to provide disclosure on what “consistent with common and accepted industry practices” means.

The trial of Lee Elbaz, aka Lena Green, the former CEO of Israel-based Yukom Communications, who stands accused of binary options fraud in the United States, continues at the Maryland District Court. Despite the prevailing number of sealed documents in this case, some information has been made available to FinanceFeeds.

On Monday, July 22, 2019, Judge Theodore D. Chuang granted in part a motion to compel by the US Government. The motion by the Government concerned the “expert” testimony by Bruce Lebowitz, whom Elbaz wants to call as a witness.

The Government had moved the Court for an order to compel Lee Elbaz to comply with the requirements of Fed. R. Crim. Pro. 16(b)(1)(C) (“Rule 16”), and order her to disclose to the government additional information about the defendant’s proposed expert witness testimony.

On June 21, 2019, defendant sent a letter to the Government, stating her intent to call Bruce Lebowitz as an expert witness. The defendant claimed that Mr. Lebowitz’s expert knowledge would allow him to testify that employees working for Elbaz at Yukom behaved in a manner “consistent with common and accepted industry practices.”

The letter did not specify Mr. Lebowitz’s basis for his conclusion that Yukom purportedly complied with industry standards, nor did it disclose how Mr. Lebowitz gathered his knowledge of Yukom’s business practices, or whether he relied on any evidence or other information about Yukom in forming his opinion.

The government then requested that the Court order the defendant to disclose (1) the basis for Mr. Lebowitz’s opinion about Yukom’s business practices, i.e. what evidence or other information Mr. Lebowitz relied on in forming his opinion, and (2) Mr. Lebowitz’s definition of what constitutes the “call center industry.”

On July 22, 2019, the Court ordered that the Government’s Motion to Compel Expert Disclosure is granted as to the disclosure regarding the expert’s definition of “call center industry.” Lee Elbaz is directed to provide the disclosure to the Government by Tuesday, July 23, 2019.

The Government alleges that, from in or around May 2014 through in or around June 2017, the defendant, Lee Elbaz, aka Lena Green, directed a scheme to defraud binary options investors by lying to investors and misleading them about the nature of binary options trading and the defendant’s business. Among other things, she lied to clients about the gains victims should expect to receive; historical rates of return binary options investors received; the alignment of financial interests between the defendant’s company and clients; the education, credentials, and experience of the defendant and her employees; and even their names and location.

Elbaz is alleged to have directed the scheme and exercised significant oversight of the scheme, both on a strategic and day-to-day level by hiring and training employees to tell the same lies to clients over and over, in order to induce clients to send money. The defendant also trained her employees to engage in fraudulent tactics to prevent clients from withdrawing funds from their accounts. Through this scheme, the defendant and her co-conspirators defrauded tens of thousands of victims worldwide, including thousands here in the United States, and caused tens of millions of dollars in victim losses.

Yukom’s operations were focused exclusively on “retention” work and operated primarily under two different client-facing brands: BigOption and BinaryBook. By late 2017 victim-clients had deposited approximately $185,000,000 into BinaryBook and BigOption accounts but had withdrawn less than $50,000,000, amounting to net deposits of just under $150,000,000. These BinaryBook and BigOption clients had less than $37 million remaining, meaning that the clients had already recognized losses of over $113,000,000.

Read this next

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.

Digital Assets

BlockDAG Presale Raises $9.9M as Batch 5 Nears Sell-Out Amid Bonk’s Fluctuating Trading Volume & Spell’s Bullish Price

Explore BONK’s trading volume, SPELL’s market shifts, and why BlockDAG’s 10,000 ROI makes it an ideal crypto for savvy investors in 2024.

Digital Assets

Bybit expands into Europe amid regulatory scrutiny

Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange Bybit is expanding its operations in Europe after encountering regulatory challenges in Hong Kong.

Digital Assets

Cathie Wood’s sponsored Bitcoin ETF sees historic $200 million inflows

The ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB), co-sponsored by Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest, registered historic inflows exceeding $200 million on Wednesday, signaling a robust appetite among investors for Bitcoin-centric investments.

Digital Assets

Sam Bankman-Fried might see his 25-year sentence halved

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison by a Manhattan court on Thursday. This comes after he was convicted of defrauding customers and investors, with Judge Lewis Kaplan highlighting the potential future risks posed by Bankman-Fried.

Technical Analysis

EURJPY Technical Analysis Report 28 March, 2024

EURJPY currency pair under the bearish pressure after the pair reversed down from the major resistance level 164.25, which also stopped the sharp weekly uptrend at the end of last year,

Digital Assets

BlockDAG’s Presale Hits $9.9M, MultiversX & MINA Price Predictions Show Green

Read about BlockDAG’s promising $10 prediction and insights on MultiversX Price Prediction as MINA’s potential unfolds.

<