On November 6, 2019, U.S. prosecutors in the Southern District of New York announced charges against Asa Saint Clair for his participation in an investment scheme tied to a purported digital coin offering called IGOBIT. Saint Clair allegedly participated in a scheme to defraud victims into providing loans tied to the launch of IGOBIT by World Sports Alliance, a purported intergovernmental organization focused on promoting international development through sports, and falsely promised investors guaranteed returns and an ownership interest in IGOBIT.
According to the allegations in the Indictment and the previously filed Complaint, from 2017 through September 2019, Saint Clair solicited investors for the launch of IGOBIT through promised investment returns and representations about World Sports Alliance’s development projects around the world. World Sports Alliance did not in fact participate in any international development projects and Saint Clair did not dedicate investor funds to IGOBIT. Instead, Saint Clair allegedly diverted those funds to other entities controlled by him and members of his family, as well as to pay his personal expenses, including dinners at Manhattan restaurants, airline tickets, and online shopping. Saint Clair, from New York, New York, is charged with one count of wire fraud.
