50 Cent Partner Jay Mazini Accused Of Running $2.5M BTC Scam

50 cent partner and social media influencer Jay Mazini was charged by federal prosecutors for running a $2.5 million Bitcoin fraud on Instagram as we read more in our latest Bitcoin scam news.

Jay Mazini or Jebara Igbara which is his real name allegedly exploited his Instagram followers in a BTC scheme. The special agent in charge of the case Jonathan D.Larsen at the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation said:

 “This defendant allegedly used his online popularity to defraud those seeking to exchange Bitcoin for cash above the market value. Always be on your guard and don’t fall prey to these cryptocurrency schemes.”

People who fell victims to Mazini’s scam came forward with details of the scam and what happened. They say that Mazini posted on social media-Instagram, saying that he will purchase BTC at 5% above the market rate. Mazini is then alleged to have made fake documents confirming wire transfers in payment for the BTC he received. One victim described his experience and said that Mazini used screenshots of account balances to prove they were legitimate and even sent copies of his passport to win the users’ trust. He even offered to meet up with some of them.

After sending BTC, the victim said that he sent a bank wire to confirm the payment but the money never came in and when raised with Mazini, the victim was told that there was a banking error at hand and another bank wire was issued but again, the funds never arrived. He estimated that Mazini defrauded $22 million from victims which is much bigger than prosecutors allege at the time of writing.

FBI Assistant Director in Charge William F.Sweeney warned that people should be more careful when it comes to social media personalities as he added that what’s depicted on these platforms is not always what it seems at first:

 “As we allege, Igbara’s social media persona served as a backdrop for enticing victims to sell him their Bitcoin at attractive, but inflated, values. A behind-the-scenes look, however, revealed things aren’t always as they seem.

There was nothing philanthropic about the Bitcoin transactions Igbara engaged in with his victims. A quick search of the Interwebs today will reveal an entirely different image of this multimillion-dollar scammer.”

The 50 cent partner was also accused of a giveaway scam which involved buying a certain amount of merch from his Italian clothing line on the promise of receiving more merch for free.