The sentencing of binary options and fund recovery fraudster Austin Smith expected tomorrow!

The sentence of binary options fraudster and fund recovery perpetrator Austin Smith is scheduled in the U.S. tomorrow. The New York-born Israeli Smith was one of the accomplices in Israeli Yukom Communications binary options scam with its brands BinaryBook and BigOption. The boiler room agent Austin Smith was probably one of the worst and most heinous perpetrators. He first ripped off the customer-victims as a boiler room agent in the Yukom scam organization and afterward, via his Wealth Recovery International (WRI), took money from the very same client-victims to recover the money he had stolen from them in the first place. Of course, Austin Smith didn’t disclose the fact that he actually was the culprit. Here is the disgusting story.

Heavenly support and Ephiany

Smith is nothing less than a blasphemous scammer. He did not shy away from claiming heavenly support in his fraudulent activities. Supposedly, he would have had a divine epiphany on a pilgrimage during the time of his boiler room activity in Israel. This would have led him to focus on fund recovery for binary options victims with his Wealth Recovery International (WRI).

At the end of the night, the hitchhiker blessed Smith, predicting he would do something unprecedented for the Jewish people. The experience had a profound effect, and when Smith arrived back in Tel Aviv that evening during a fierce windstorm, the idea for Wealth Recovery came to him with the slam of the gate of his apartment building.

Austin Smith’s enlightenment (Source: Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

In fact, he later admitted that he actually made more money from his victims through his WRI fund recovery activities than he did in his boiler room Agent role.

A guy with history

According to a report of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Smith was raised in upstate New York by “loving Reform Jewish parents.” Smith has long been drawn to fraud and/or scams and spent much of his 20s in the U.S. running scams involving light bulbs, child actors and timeshares, as well as selling subprime mortgages. He had stints in rehab for heroin addiction and moved to Tel Aviv in 2014 to work for the flourishing binary options.

Since his epiphany in January 2016 Smith presented himself as a sort of enlightened person with a divine mission, appeared in TV reports and spoke on binary options fraud at many events. While running his fund recovery scam! The U.S. authorities have uncovered his perfidious approach.

U.S. investigations have uncovered that Smith ripped off his client- victims several times:

• initially, as a boiler room employee, he lured money out of client-victims with false promises and the false name “John Ried” and then
• received upfront payments and commissions as a so-called funds recovery expert, concealing his past and blackmailing his former employers.

Via his Wealth Recovery International (WRI) and offered clients to recover the money they lost on BinaryBook, BigOption and other binary options scams. Together with the Israeli attorney Veronica Birman (LinkedIn profile) and the U.S. registered attorney Tami Hamm, client-victims were called and contacted via their own Fund Recovery Boiler Rooms in Israel.

In the meantime, WRI has closed down. The website of Veronica Birman‘s office (www.birmanglobal.com) is currently not available. If you are interested in a more detailed feedback on the fund recovery activities of Veronica Birman, you should read the reviews on TrustPilot here.

Read Simona Weinglass’ article on the WRI shut-down in the Times of Israel here.

The Fund Recovery Rip-Off

According to the findings of the U.S. authorities, WRI and/or Birman demanded upfront payments of $5,000 to $45,000 from binary options victims. Without a guarantee of success of course! WRI customers then had to pay up to $50,000 for further “investigations” and an additional 20% of the amount recovered. The U.S. prosecutors have recorded the details of this despicable practice in The Stipulation of Facts:

In one case cited in the plea agreement, Smith is said to have received some $125,000 commission with his WRI from one of his former BinaryBook client-victims. $45,000 as initial payment. As John Ried, he had already stolen $400,000 from him before in the first place – and received a respective commission. This we can call an impressive enlightenment, can’t we?

U.S. authorities uncover procedure

Austin Smith has already pleaded guilty to binary options fraud and admitted his rip-off in a plea deal with the U.S. Government and cooperated with the authorities in the Yukom case.

In their WRI Austin Smith allegedly worked with data that he had previously stolen from Yukom Communications’ boiler rooms. At least that’s what Yukom owner Yossi Herzog claims. Herzog has confirmed to FinTelegram that he sued Smith for millions in Israel. But a settlement was reached. No details of which have been disclosed to FinTelegram.

In the course of the U.S. indictment against Lee Elbaz and Yossi Herzog, Austin Smith cooperated with the prosecutors. As a result, he expects a significantly reduced sentence.

So we can be curious to see what punishment the court will impose on Smith tomorrow. In view of his double fraud, a prison sentence of several years would certainly be justified. That would really be heavenly justice!