Crypto investors burnt again by Israeli entrepreneur Moshe Hogeg
Alleged cryptocurrency scammer Moshe Hogeg has successfully run another project into the ground, raising more investor concerns that they’ve been defrauded, as he awaits a monumental decision that could send him to prison.
Hogeg co-founded cryptocurrency Tomi in 2023, with a supposed vision to “increase digital freedom and build a more democratic and decentralized internet.”
Launched at $1.15 in January of that year, the token surged to an all-time high of $6.59 by June. However, at press time, $TOMI trades for just $0.05, its market cap having shrunk from $350 million at peak to just $26.8 million.
This downward spiral has seriously peeved investors, who at best accuse Tomi of failing to provide customer safeguards and at worse feel that they’re being taken for a ride.
While bitcoin and ether prices are pumping, $TOMI has stayed the same — a huge red flag that the firm is having trouble addressing on X (formerly Twitter).
“Your token price speaks for itself,” one user wrote to Tomi. “The more you talk, the more it drops. It’s no secret that your team is minting more tokens and dumping them on investors.”
Tomi’s canned response to these concerns is also riling up investors. “We do not appreciate FUD comments,” the Tomi team responds to any negativity, which apparently includes their own price chart.
Tomi co-founder Moshe Hogeg may soon face court trial
Tomi seems to have fallen into the same pattern that many of Hogeg’s projects suffer from. Previous ventures Sirin Labs, Stox, and Leadcoin have all plummeted or been wiped out entirely.
In 2021, Israeli police arrested Hogeg following a lawsuit filed by two colleagues, who said that they were encouraged by Hogeg to persuade friends and family to invest in these projects, and then were rug-pulled. Hogeg was also accused of hosting drug-fueled sex parties at the offices of these projects.
Hogeg denied all allegations and was released into house arrest after one month of detainment. The serial entrepreneur is now relatively free, though travel and financial restrictions still apply. A two-year investigation by police concluded that Israeli prosecutors should charge Hogeg with fraud, theft, money laundering, forgery, and tax offenses — but the October 7 attack by Hamas appears to have delayed a decision.
Protos has reached out to the Israeli Department of Justice but at publication time haven’t received a response.
Authorities may have caught on to Hogeg’s shady practices — but while investors wait for bureaucratic processes, more users are getting sucked into his orbit.
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