DOJ seeks BigOption brand manager to pay $3.8M in restitution
A couple of months after Elad Bigelman, a former brand manager of fraudulent binary options firm BigOption, was sentenced to imprisonment, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has requested that the defendant pays restitution of nearly $3.8 million.
This becomes clear from a sentencing memorandum filed by the DOJ with the Maryland District Court on May 18, 2022. The document, seen by FX News Group, shows that Bigelman should be required to pay restitution in the amount of $3,766,449, jointly and severally with co-conspirator, Lee Elbaz. Ms Elbaz was the CEO of fraudulent binary options scheme Yukom Communications. Bigelman has consented to this restitution calculation.
Elad Bigelman, also known as “Michael Goldberg”, worked at Yukom Communications from at least January 2015 to about September 2017. He served as a brand manager for BigOption. He supervised representatives of BigOption who performed retention services. Bigelman also performed retention services on behalf of BigOption himself.
The superseding indictment alleges that beginning in May 2014, the defendants and their co-conspirators fraudulently marketed and sold binary options through multiple websites, including BinaryBook and BigOption. The indictment alleges that the conspirators worked for an Israel-based company, Yukom Communications, which was involved in the sale and marketing of binary options.
As alleged in the indictment, the defendants and their co-conspirators misled investors in BinaryBook and BigOption by inducing investors to deposit funds based on various false statements and material omissions regarding the purported alignment of financial incentives between investors and representatives of BinaryBook and BigOption; the suitability of binary options as investments; the potential return on investment; and the names, qualifications, and physical location of representatives.
The indictment also alleges that the defendants and their co-conspirators misrepresented investors’ ability to withdraw funds from accounts and further used deceptive terms including so-called “bonuses,” “risk free trades,” and “insured trades” to mislead investors.