The Casablanca Court of Appeals ruled that the 21-year-old Frenchman – Thomas Clausi – will serve an 18-month prison sentence for orchestrating a crypto scheme. The defendant must compensate the victims of his scam and pay a fine of 3.4 million euros ($3.7 million) to customs authorities. 

Crypto fraudsters have been quite inventive recently, draining significant sums from investors. Fortunately, law enforcement agencies have arrested and sent to jail some of them. 

For example, Gilbert Armenta – the ex-lover of Ruja Ignatove (better known as the “Cryptoqueen”) – will go behind bars for five years after participating in the infamous OneCoin scam. Cooper Morgenthau – the former CFO of African Gold – was sentenced to three years after stealing $5 million from different SPACs to trade meme stocks.

Jail Time for the Frenchman, but There Is a Catch

As reported by Morocco World News, the Casablanca magistrates confirmed the 18-month sentence of the youngster. Trial proceedings against the defendant started a few years back when a Frenchwoman residing in Morocco sold him a Ferrari car for $440,000 worth of bitcoin. Local law considers the use of digital assets to be an illicit payment method.

Another individual claimed Clausi bought three luxury watches in exchange for a counterfeit check. The Casablanca Court ordered the man to refund the owner of the items for $4,000. It also ruled that the defendant must pay a penalty of $3.7 million to customs authorities. 

Clausi’s lawyer – Mohamed Aghanaj – said his client has almost served his jail sentence since he’s been in a correctional facility since December 2021:

“He has one month and a few days left in prison.”

Despite the hostile stance from