According to reports, German citizen Horst Jicha, who is suspected of orchestrating a cryptocurrency fraud that was worth $150 million, has disappeared from his house in New York City while he was on a bail of $5 million.

A conspiracy and securities fraud allegation have been brought against Jicha, who claimed that his business, USI Tech, offered profitable cryptocurrency investments. Jicha is now facing these accusations.

On the other hand, when his ankle monitor suddenly stopped working for no apparent reason on October 3, he took advantage of the chance to skip out on a court appearance that was set for him, putting the authorities in a state of frantic search for him.

The alleged fraud perpetrated by Jicha took advantage of the fact that cryptocurrency investments would provide returns of 140%, so enticing investors who were not paying attention into a traditional Ponzi scheme via the USI Tech platform.

James Smith, the Assistant Director in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said that "the platform was just a facade," which enabled Jicha to "steal millions of his investors' money and retreat from the country."

A study from the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) indicates that the number of complaints pertaining to cryptocurrency increased dramatically in the year 2023.

The fact that there were over 69,000 instances of cryptocurrency fraud with damages totaling more than $5.6 billion was brought to light by this occurrence.

Although crypto complaints only account for roughly ten percent of all reports of financial fraud, they are responsible for almost half of all damages that are incurred as a result of financial fraud.

As another point of interest, the paper highlights the fact that criminals have found it simpler to target consumers and retail investors due to the "fear of missing out" on cryptocurrency gains.