If You Purchased or Acquired CTR Tokens, You may be Eligible to Receive Money From Forfeited Assets
NEW YORK, Jan. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ —
United States v. Sohrab Sharma, et al. (Centra Tech),
Criminal Case Number 1:18-CR-00340 (S.D.N.Y.)
Remission Administrator
P.O. Box 5834
Portland, OR 97228-5834
Toll-Free Number: (800) 709-3448
Email: info@centratechremission.com
Website: www.centratechremission.com
NOTICE AND PETITION FOR REMISSION FORM
You may be eligible to receive a distribution from the assets forfeited in connection with the above case. The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) hired the Remission Administrator, Epiq Class Action and Claims Solutions, Inc., to assist in notifying potential petitioners, reviewing the petitions, conduct follow-up communications with petitioners, making decision recommendations, and mailing remission checks to eligible petitioners. Please beware of other websites, entities, or communications you may receive claiming to administer the remission process, remission payments, or any other kind of refund from DOJ. Victims are never required to pay or hire an attorney to take part in any DOJ Remission process, including the process in this case.
The Petition for Remission process (“Remission Process”) is governed by 28 C.F.R. Part 9 (the “Regulations”) and overseen by the DOJ’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section. The Remission Process in this case is contingent on the issuance of a Final Order of Forfeiture and completion of all relevant appeals. The DOJ treats all petitioners equally, ensuring all eligible petitioners meet the criteria set forth in the Regulations. In cases involving more than one victim, the Department of Justice will grant remission on a pro rata basis where the amount to be distributed is less than the value of the petitioners’ losses.
From approximately July 2017 through October 2017, Robert Joseph Farkas, Sohrab Sharma, and Raymond Trapani sought to raise funds through their company, Centra Tech (collectively referred to herein as “Centra Tech”), which they claimed offered cryptocurrency-related financial products including a debit card that allowed users to spend cryptocurrency at stores that accepted MasterCard and Visa. The defendants solicited investors to purchase unregistered securities in the form of digital tokens issued by Centra Tech (“CTR tokens”), through various fundraising efforts, including a so-called “initial coin offering” or “ICO.” The representations the defendants made to help secure these investments, however, were false. Among other misrepresentations, the defendants fabricated Centra Tech executive team members, did not have appropriate state licenses, and did not have relationships with financial services providers.
Based in part on these false representations, victim investors provided millions of dollars’ worth of digital funds in investments for the purchase of CTR tokens. Many CTR tokens were subsequently traded on the secondary market while the defendants continued to make misrepresentations about Centra Tech and its purported products. On April 2, 2018, two of the defendants were publicly charged with violations of federal criminal law by a Criminal Complaint filed in the Southern District of New York and the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed a civil complaint in the Southern District of New York. Subsequently, the price of CTR tokens declined to nearly zero.
Failure to return a complete Petition Form and include the required documentation by the deadline, May 1, 2022 will result in exclusion from the Remission Process. In addition, you have an obligation to provide Epiq with current contact information. Failure to maintain a valid address with Epiq could result in your exclusion from the Remission Process.
TO BE ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE A REMISSION PAYMENT, YOU MUST EITHER (A) MAIL A COMPLETED AND SIGNED PETITION FOR REMISSION FORM (“PETITION”) TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS VIA PREPAID FIRST-CLASS MAIL, POSTMARKED ON OR BEFORE MAY 1, 2022, OR (B) COMPLETE AND SUBMIT THE PETITION THROUGH THE REMISSION WEBSITE, WWW.CENTRATECHREMISSION.COM, ON OR BEFORE MAY 1, 2022.
DO NOT MAIL OR DELIVER YOUR PETITION TO THE COURT OR THE DOJ. SUBMIT YOUR PETITION ONLY TO THE REMISSION ADMINISTRATOR AT THE ADDRESS ABOVE OR THROUGH THE WEBSITE AT WWW.CENTRATECHREMISSION.COM.
