Former CEO gets 22-year sentence for role in binary options fraud

The perpetrator of an international binary options fraud has been sentenced to 22 years in prison by a U.S. judge.

In August, the former CEO of Israel-based Yukom Communications, Lee Elbaz, 38, was convicted by a U.S. jury on three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy for her role in a binary options scheme that took in more than US$100 million through two companies, BinaryBook and BigOption.

She’s now been ordered to spend 22 years in prison. A restitution order will be determined at a later date.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), evidence presented at trial showed that Elbaz and her co-conspirators “fraudulently sold and marketed binary options to investors” around the world; that they misled investors; and they misrepresented the terms of so-called “bonuses,” “risk-free trades” and “insured trades” to deceive investors.

“This defendant targeted and defrauded thousands of victims, looting monies from retirees, veterans and other individuals, many of whom lost their entire savings,” assistant attorney general Brian Benczkowski said in a statement.

Five others pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud and have been sentenced in the case. An indictment charging another 15 alleged co-conspirators was unsealed last month.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.