Jebara Igbara, also known as Jay Mazini, has pleaded guilty to a three-count indictment "charging him with wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering" in a federal court in Brooklyn, according to a news release from the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The Instagram account under the name Jay Mazini allegedly showed Igbara handing out large amounts of cash to various individuals as gifts, while in reality, he operated a Ponzi scheme and stole cryptocurrencies.

He was charged with wire fraud in March 2021 for inducing victims to send him Bitcoin by "falsely claiming to have sent wire transfers of cash in exchange for the Bitcoin."

"As he admitted today, Igbara deliberately operated multiple scams to cheat a multitude of investors out of their money. The FBI and our law enforcement partners are committed to stopping fraudsters of all types and holding them accountable in the criminal justice system," FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Michael J. Driscoll said, as per the news release.

Igbara, 27, from New Jersey, was operating a Ponzi scheme in which he used investors' money for gambling and personal purposes and targeted the Muslim-American community in New York, soliciting investment in stocks, electronics for resale and coronavirus-related personal protective equipment.

"With today's plea, the defendant has admitted to leveraging his Instagram popularity to prey upon innocent investors and steal at least $8 million of their hard-earned money," United States Attorney Breon Peace said, according to the news release. "Together with our agency partners, this Office is committed to bringing scammers to justice."

The news release also disclosed that Igbara would post on Instagram, saying he'd pay above market rates for cryptocurrencies. However, he would only send altered images of wire transfers in exchange for the crypto assets.

The DOJ also shared that the Instagram personality was "merely stealing the cryptocurrency sent by his victim" to pay his investors.

"When sentenced, Igbara faces up to 20 years' imprisonment," the DOJ noted, adding that the government's case is currently being handled by the office's Business & Securities Fraud Section. It also said United States Attorney Lauren Howard Elbert is in charge of the prosecution.

Instagram said the fine concerned settings that were already changed and that it plans to appeal
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