French crypto trader jailed for 18 months for buying a Ferrari with Bitcoin – Regulation Bitcoin News
A French crypto trader, Thomas Clausi, is currently imprisoned in Morocco where he was convicted of the crime of buying a Ferrari with bitcoin. Clausi’s arrest and subsequent imprisonment came after a woman, who sold him a Ferrari for $440,000 in April 2021, filed a complaint against the crypto trader when the price of the crypto asset had dropped to just over $30,000.
Crypto Trader ordered to pay fine of $3.7 million
A 21-year-old Frenchman and crypto trader, Thomas Clausi, is currently serving a prison sentence in Morocco for allegedly buying a $400,000 supercar with bitcoin, a report said. In addition to giving Clausi an 18-month prison sentence, the Moroccan court also ordered the crypto trader to pay a fine of over $3.7 million (€3.4 million).
According to a report by Gararin News, trouble began for the Frenchman when a woman who sold him a Ferrari for almost $440,000 filed a fraud case against him. Although Clausi is said to have paid the full amount in April 2021 with BTC, the unnamed woman filed her complaint only in July when the price had dropped. As shown by the crypto-asset’s data, during this period the value of one BTC fell from more than $60,000 seen in mid-April to just over $31,500 by July 17, 2021.
Following the filing of the complaint, the authorities in Morocco – where crypto trading is prohibited – are said to have opened an investigation. In October of that year, Clausi was convicted of the crimes of fraud and “payment with foreign currency on Moroccan territory.” Although the price of BTC rose to over $40,000 in December, the Moroccan authorities were unmoved and still had the Frenchman thrown in jail.
Although Clausi only has a few months left before he finishes his sentence, his lawyers are still trying to secure an early release. For example, in a hearing seeking to have his sentence reduced, the lawyers told the court that Clausi had previously bought expensive Swiss watches using crypto and that the price of BTC had risen accordingly afterwards.
But instead of reducing the sentence, the Moroccan court still ordered Clausi to repay the seller the equivalent of $4,200 in local currency.
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