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Long prison sentence after global crypto fraud

The last two defendants in the global crypto scam "LoopX"(Bild: Constantin Handl, Krone KREATIV)

Since June of this year, the fraud involving the alleged cryptocurrency "LoopX" has been tried in numerous hearings at the Linz Regional Court. On Tuesday, it was the turn of the fifth and seventh defendants. One was acquitted, the other must serve three years and three months behind bars.

The trial surrounding the large-scale crypto scam "LoopX" entered its final round at Linz Regional Court on Tuesday. Five co-defendants have already been finally sentenced. What remained was the 36-year-old owner of an advertising agency, who had worked as an IT expert, and a new face: a real estate agent from Graz, who distributed the crypto tokens he had acquired to the buyers during a vacation in Thailand with a co-defendant.

"Burdens me a lot"
He admitted this, but claimed to have known nothing about the underlying fraud. The advertising entrepreneur, who was presented from prison, appeared more remorseful: "I will have to deal with the fact that people lost a lot of money because of me for a very long time," he said, fighting back tears. A great loss for him too, because the business he had built up with the agency over two decades had gone very well.

Prison sentence and acquittal
But all his remorse and openness were in vain: the 36-year-old has to serve three years and three months in prison and must also hand over his winnings of half a million. The 34-year-old seventh defendant, on the other hand, was acquitted and both sentences are final.