PANews reported on January 28 that Antonia Perez Hernandez, the initiator of the cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme Forcount, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and has been sentenced to more than two years in prison.

On January 27, at a hearing at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), Judge Analisa Torres (who also heard the U.S. SEC case against Ripple Labs) sentenced Hernandez to 30 months in prison for participating in a cryptocurrency scam. Hernandez admitted that he worked with co-conspirators between 2017 and 2021 to steal approximately $8.4 million from investors by promoting cryptocurrency trading and mining on Forcount and promising substantial returns.

Hernandez apologized to "those who suffered monetary losses" due to her actions. Juan Tacuri, a senior initiator of the project, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in October 2024, while Nestor Nuñez, who was prosecuted, was also sentenced to 4 years in prison in November. (Cointelegraph)