When more than a dozen retirees entrusted Richard Emile Ayoub with millions in life savings to invest on their behalf, the self-declared strategic-thinking businessman used the cash to buy Bitcoin in an elaborate scam.
The American Sydney resident was sentenced to two years and six months in prison with a non-parole period of 18 months after 21 investors were defrauded of $3.5 million from January to February 2021.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime.
Judge Robyn Tupman said both counts were objectively serious offences as she delivered her sentence in Downing Centre District Court on Friday.
“Many victims appear to be older people looking to invest in superannuation or similar. More often than not, it seems to have been their life savings,” she said.
The 54-year-old was working with longtime associate Jazz Singh at the time in a scheme that promised investors their money would be used to buy bonds, but instead, it was used to purchase Bitcoin.
He previously told the court of his financially desperate situation, owing $2 million to family and friends, when he agreed to take up the job with Singh.
Judge Tupman dismissed this reasoning, pointing to purchases he made on Gucci products, paying his son’s private school fees, US currency exchanges and the fact he was living in a $4500-a-week Woolloomooloo apartment in Sydney’s inner-east.
“These are the sort of places one would not normally frequent in a state of financial…
