If you want to start 2024 with a dose of anger, be sure to watch Bitconned on Netflix. Bitconned is the latest story about a fraudster who was rewarded for his crimes with an exclusive Netflix documentary that will make your blood boil.
Directed by Brian Storkel ( Pez Criminal ), much of the film is devoted to the reporting of journalist Nathaniel Popper, whose New York Times article in 2017 exposed the startup Centra Tech, which was reviewed by celebrities like the rapper. DJ Khaled and wrestler Floyd Mayweather – like a complete fraud. But Starkel's film is directly inspired by the story of one of the con artists: Ray Trapani. Centra founders Sam “Sobre” Sharma (sometimes called Sohrab Sharma) and Trapani, two twenty-somethings from Miami, claimed to have invented a “Bitcoin debit card” that allowed buyers of Centra tokens to withdraw their Bitcoins like a Visa card to use. . Furthermore, they even claimed to be working with Visa to develop the card.
But it was all a lie. Centra has not worked with Visa. None of the apps worked. The person called “CEO” on Centra’s website didn’t even exist. (Trapani says in the documentary that he found a photo of their fake CEO Michael Edwards by Googling "old white guy." The photo was actually of a Canadian physiology professor.)
And yet the lie worked. Trapani and Sharma raised more than $30 million thanks to investors deceived by the farce. Ultimately, the Securities and Exchange Commission finally retired in 2018.
What happened to Sam Sharma from the Netflix film Bitconned ?
Sam “Sober” Sharma, also known as Sohrab Sharma, is currently in prison and therefore does not appear in the film. He is serving his eight-year term, which began in 2021. He pleaded guilty to "conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud and mail fraud in connection with his and his co-conspirators' use of material misrepresentations and omissions to induce investors to purchase securities." ", - reports the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.
According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Sharma is serving his sentence at Montgomery FPC, a General Regime prisoner of war camp in Alabama. He will be released on August 19, 2027.
Sharma's lawyer released a statement on the film, which appears before the credits, saying: "Mr. Sharma denies the various allegations made by several people in this documentary. In the near future, Mr. Sharma would like to tell Centra's story. Technology and its context.
Where is Ray Trapani from the Netflix film Bitconned now?
Ray Trapani served no prison time for his crimes and is now free with his wife and child. He was arrested shortly after Sharma in 2018 and charged with four felonies: one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of wire fraud. with securities and one count of wire fraud.
Bitconned director Brian Storkel filmed Trapani on the day of the verdict, April 2, 2022.
“The most important thing is that the judge is convinced that you will not commit any further crimes,” Trapani says confidently in front of the camera. “The whole point of putting someone in prison is to make sure they don’t do any harm to society or what they say.”
Trapani claims he cooperated fully with the FBI. He says he helped gather evidence to sentence Sharma to eight years in prison and Centra's third co-founder, Robert Farkey, to one year in prison.
“The fact that I cooperated means a lot to me, so I hope I have less time,” Trapani said to the camera, adding almost as an afterthought: “I regret what I did.”
Although viewers doubted Trapani's sincerity, his story had an impact on the judge. Trapani was sentenced to a “time penalty,” meaning there was no prison time. The judge praised her for her "extraordinary" cooperation and said she did not want to "interrupt the path you have taken because you appear to be doing well."
Laughing, Tripani explains in his car: “We’re running out of time!”
When asked what happened to his money, Tripani shrugs his shoulders, smiles sheepishly and refuses to answer. “I told the FBI there was more money there. You have to find him.
Trapani was also ordered to pay $2.9 million in restitution to victims of the Centra fraud. But as the film notes, Tripani bought a house two months after his conviction. Does this mean he has more crypto hidden somewhere? His mother says in the film that he signed a contract with his stepfather.
When asked in the film how he bought the house, Trapani replies: "I did something unspecified." My whole sordid story is nonsense. »
Trapani has a verified account on X and other social media where he is happy to promote the documentary.
The filing also notes that none of the Centra investors have received any payouts as of August 2023. Tripani told the Bitconned filmmakers that he plans to open a new lending business for “people in need” with a 50 percent interest rate and will call it “Cambridge and Brown,” after the prestigious universities. (He claims on Twitter that this detail is untrue.)
Apparently the flow of scams never stops.