Abner Tinoco and his company, Kikit & Mess Investments, LLC, have been fined $31 million by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) of the United States of America for committing a significant violation of crypto regulations.
A civil enforcement lawsuit was filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in October 2021, claiming Tinoco and Kikit & Mess Investments committed fraud and misappropriating more than $3.9 million from 61 different customers.
The program was a Ponzi scheme, in which the funds of new participants were used to pay out fictitious returns to investors who had invested previously. The CFTC was successful in persuading Judge David C. Guaderrama to place a freeze on Tinoco’s assets to prevent any further misuse of those funds.
By March 2022, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) had obtained a permanent injunction that prohibited Tinoco from trading in any market that was controlled by the CFTC.
Tinoco and his company were ordered to pay a total of nearly $31 million in fines by Judge Guaderrama on July 26, 2024. These charges included $6.20 million in restitution to 199 victims of fraud, $6.25 million in disgorgement with credit for restitution, and a civil monetary penalty of $18.7 million.
A total of $9.02 million in compensation to victims has been ordered to be paid by Tinoco, who is currently serving an 84-month sentence in Salford, Arizona.
