According to a statement by the United States Department of Justice, Amir Bruno Elmaani, the founder of the Oyster Protocol, has been sentenced to prison and a million-dollar fine on charges of tax evasion after admitting to minting and selling Pearl tokens without paying income tax.
A $5.5 Million Admission!
Following the charges, Elmaani confessed to causing over $5.5 million in tax loss by violating his tax payment obligations. District Attorney Damian Williams stated, “Amir Elmaani violated his tax obligations on millions of dollars in cryptocurrency profits and also violated the trust of the cryptocurrency community that investors had built.”
In 2017, Elmaani introduced a cryptocurrency called Pearl (PRL) that was marketed as a way to purchase data on a blockchain-based platform called the Oyster Protocol. However, he secretly minted PRL tokens without the knowledge of the team and investors and released and sold these tokens on the market.
Compensation for Tax Loss
Elmaani’s sentence includes a four-year prison term and one year of supervised release. Additionally, he has been ordered to pay compensation to offset the $5.5 million in tax loss.
Source: Cointelegraph
