Jebara Igbara, also known as “Jay Mazini” on social media, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for committing wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, and money laundering.
The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Frederic Block in a recent hearing at the Brooklyn federal court.
Igbara had admitted to deceiving members of the Muslim community out of $8 million, which he used to live a luxurious lifestyle, buying expensive cars and gambling excessively.
Igbara took advantage of the economic difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic by using his connections in the Muslim community to ask for investments in his company, Hallal Capital LLC.
He promised investors profits through stock trading and selling electronics and personal protective equipment.
“The prosecution of Igbara unmasked him as a fraudster who used his social media popularity to con investors out of millions of dollars,” Breon Peace, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said.
Despite Igbara's promises, investors lost a lot of money. The court ordered Igbara to pay $10 million in forfeiture, with the amount he needs to repay to be decided later.
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