Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the conviction today of ASA SAINT CLAIR, a/k/a “Asa Williams,” a/k/a “Asa Sinclair,” following a one-week trial before the Honorable P. Kevin Castel. SAINT CLAIR devised an investment scheme in which he defrauded more than 60 victims into providing loans to his organization, the World Sports Alliance, tied to a purported digital coin offering called IGObit. SAINT CLAIR falsely represented to investors that the World Sports Alliance was a close affiliate of the United Nations and that they would receive guaranteed returns on their investment, but instead diverted the investors’ funds for his personal expenses and benefit.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As a jury has now found, Asa Saint Clair used lies to defraud everyday people out of their hard-earned money by promising them guaranteed returns if they invested in a IGObit, a digital currency he claimed the World Sports Alliance was developing. Saint Clair touted the WSA as working closely with the UN to promote the values of sports and peace for a better world, while in reality promoting only the balance of his bank accounts.”
The defendant was charged and convicted in one count with committing wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343, from in or around November 2017, through in or around September 2019. SAINT CLAIR solicited investors for the launch of IGObit through promised investment returns, representations that the World Sports Alliance, a purported intergovernmental organization, was a close affiliate and partner with the United Nations, and representations about the World Sport Alliance’s development projects around the world. World Sports Alliance did not in fact have any relationship with the United Nations and did not, and had not, participated in any international development projects.
SAINT CLAIR also represented to investors that their money would be used for the development of IGObit, when he in fact 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, travel, and online shopping.
SAINT CLAIR defrauded more than 60 victims of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
SAINT CLAIR, 49, of Washington was convicted of one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The maximum potential sentence for the offense of conviction is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as the sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge. Sentencing before Judge Castel is scheduled for July 19, 2022.
Mr. Williams praised the work of Homeland Security Investigations.
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