Alleged crypto scammer Moshe Hogeg has once again doomed his project, raising concerns among investors that they may have been defrauded, as he awaits a major sentence that could land him in prison.
Hogeg co-founded the cryptocurrency Tomi in 2023 with the vision to “increase digital freedom and build a more democratic and decentralized Internet.”
Launched in January of that year at $1.15, the token soared to an all-time high of $6.59 by June, but as of press time, TOMI is trading at just $0.05 and its market cap has shrunk to just $26.8 million from its peak of $350 million.
This vicious cycle has deeply infuriated investors, who at best are accusing Tomi of failing to protect their customers, and at worst feel they have been duped.
Tomi launched in January 2023 at $1.15 and quickly soared to an all-time high of $6.59.
While the prices of Bitcoin and Ether have skyrocketed, $TOMI has remained steady, a major red flag that the company at X (formerly Twitter) is struggling to address.
“Your token price speaks for itself,” one user wrote to Tomi. “The more you talk, the lower the price goes. It’s no secret that your team is minting more tokens and selling them to investors.”
Tomi’s knee-jerk response to these concerns has also infuriated investors: “We don’t welcome FUD comments,” the Tomi team wrote in response to the negative comments, which appears to include their own price chart.
FUD comments are not welcome. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out on TG or Discord. 😀
— Tominet (@tomipioneers) September 20, 2024
Tomi co-founder Moshe Hogeg may soon face trial
Tomi appears to be falling into the same pattern that many of Hogeg’s projects have fallen into: previous ventures Sirin Labs, Stox and Leadcoin have all plummeted or disappeared entirely.
In 2021, Israeli police arrested Hogeg following a lawsuit from two colleagues who claimed he had encouraged them to convince their friends and family to invest in the projects, then blackmailed them. Hogeg was also accused of hosting drug-fueled sex parties at the projects’ offices.
Hogeg denied all charges and was released under house arrest after a month in detention. The serial entrepreneur is now relatively free, although he remains subject to travel and financial restrictions. A two-year police investigation led Israeli prosecutors to conclude that Hogeg should be indicted on charges of fraud, theft, money laundering, forgery and tax evasion, but a verdict appears to have been delayed following the October 7 Hamas attack.
Protos contacted the Israeli Ministry of Justice but had not received a response as of press time.
Authorities may have noticed Hogeg’s shady behavior, but as investors wait for bureaucratic procedures to be completed, more users are being drawn into his sphere of influence.
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