Magdaleno Mendoza, a senior promoter involved in the multimillion‑dollar cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme known as IcomTech, has been sentenced to 71 months in prison. The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton. Mendoza pled guilty in July 2025 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and illegal reentry after deportation. The sentence also requires Mendoza to pay restitution of $789,218.94 and forfeit $1.5 million, including his residence in Downey, California, which was purchased with proceeds from the fraud.
“As a senior promoter of IcomTech, Mendoza helped prey on Spanish-speaking victims who lacked investment experience, including our fellow New Yorkers,” U.S. Attorney Clayton said in a statement. “By exploiting trust and the promise of ‘crypto,’ he and his co-conspirators stole millions from working-class people. Today’s sentence provides a measure of justice.”
How the IcomTech scheme operated
IcomTech launched in mid‑2018 as a purported cryptocurrency mining and trading company that promised daily returns to investors. Prosecutors said the firm falsely claimed to generate profits from crypto-related operations, while in reality it operated as a multilevel marketing Ponzi scheme.
Mendoza, who had previously promoted at least two other crypto scams, served as one of IcomTech promoters and maintained regular contact with the company’s founder, David Carmona. He began recruiting victim-investors, many of whom were Spanish-speaking workers with limited investment backgrounds.
According to court filings, Mendoza and other promoters advertised IcomTech as a path to financial freedom. They held elaborate expos and community events across the United States, using displays of wealth to project legitimacy.
“IcomTech promoters often showed up in expensive cars and wearing luxury clothing as a way of exhibiting their purportedly legitimate success from IcomTech,” prosecutors said.
Mendoza personally hosted promotional events at his Los Angeles-area restaurant, where he collected thousands of dollars in cash from investors.
Victims bought into IcomTech through cash, checks, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency. They then received access to an online portal that allegedly tracked daily profits. However, the displayed profits were fabricated, and attempts to withdraw funds typically failed. The stolen funds were used to pay earlier investors, advertise further recruitment, and finance the lavish lifestyles of the promoters.
IcomTech’s collapse and the worthless “Icoms”
By late 2018, investors began encountering problems withdrawing funds. When victims asked for assistance, they were met with excuses and hidden charges. Despite growing complaints, Mendoza and others continued to solicit new investments.
As liquidity dried up, IcomTech introduced a token called “Icoms,” which the promoters said would gain value once widely accepted for goods and services. Federal prosecutors described the Icom tokens as “essentially worthless.” The introduction of these tokens only deepened investor losses.
By the end of 2019, IcomTech stopped paying its participants and collapsed entirely. Mendoza then moved on to promote at least three more fraudulent schemes, court records show.
Legal consequences and related convictions
In addition to his sentence for wire fraud, Mendoza was convicted of illegal reentry after deportation. He had been living in the United States illegally for decades, despite having been deported four times, including once under a false identity.
Multiple other IcomTech figures have also faced prosecution. Founder David Carmona, former CEO Marco Ruiz Ochoa, web developer Gustavo Rodriguez, and senior promoters David Brend, Juan Arellano, and Moses Valdez were each convicted and sentenced separately.
Jay Clayton commended the investigative work of Homeland Security Investigations’ El Dorado Task Force and acknowledged assistance from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The case was handled by the Illicit Finance and Money Laundering Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael D. Maimin, T. Josiah Pertz, and Cecilia E. Vogel.
The IcomTech case demonstrates the persistence of crypto-based fraud that exploits unfamiliar communities, often using technical language and social trust to legitimize financial deception.
Jordan V.
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