BROOKLYN, NEW YORK CITY: Popular Instagram influencer Jay Mazini has pleaded guilty to cheating his investors and followers for over $8 million. Originally known as Jebara Igbara, Mazini was nabbed by the police on Wednesday, November 2. The influencer was booked under three charges wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, and money laundering.

The influencer, who had more than one million followers, swindled the investors under a Ponzi scheme aimed at New York's Muslim- American community, reported New York Post.

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What is Jay Mazini's Net Worth?

According to Alpha News Call, Mazini is a popular Palestinian entrepreneur. He has a total net worth of $8 million. Mazini was educated in an American school and began his business career by earning $400 a month. He actively helped his parents to improve their family export business. He also owned multiple businesses aiming at assisting individuals with investments every day. The influencer was popular for his financial program Mazini Crytzo, reported idolnetworth.com. Mazini Italy is a clothing store owned by him where Dave East, the rapper partnered with him, claims tecake.com. 

Mazini also faced much backlash when he started investing in the stock market with continuous losses. Meanwhile, he got huge followers on Instagram due to his charity activities during the pandemic. He gave out $16.6k to a few fast-food workers and wrote a message expressing his desire to make a change in the world and help people which gained a lot of popularity. Mazini also has a cosmetics business called Kismet. It was founded in 1999 and is currently headquartered in New York City.

Current allegation

In the recent case, the Department of Justice released a statement that says, "As set forth in the information, up until March 2021, Igbara maintained a popular Instagram account under the name “Jay Mazini,” where he would post videos depicting, among other things, occasions during which he would hand out large amounts of cash to various individuals as gifts." Meanwhile, it further said, "In reality, Igbara was perpetrating overlapping fraud schemes, scamming investors out of at least $8 million. "

“With today’s plea, the defendant has admitted to leveraging his Instagram popularity to prey upon innocent investors and steal at least $8 million of their hard-earned money. Together with our agency partners, this Office is committed to bringing scammers to justice," stated United States Attorney Peace. FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Driscoll said, "Igbara deliberately operated multiple scams to cheat a multitude of investors out of their money.  The FBI and our law enforcement partners are committed to stopping fraudsters of all types and holding them accountable in the criminal justice system." 

The statement also added, "Igbara is charged with perpetrating a scheme to defraud members of the Muslim-American community in New York by soliciting their money for purported investments in stock, electronics resale, and purchases of COVID-19 related personal protective equipment (PPE).  In reality, Igbara was operating a Ponzi scheme and misappropriated nearly all of the money for his personal expenses and gambling. " He might face up to 20 years in prison if he’s sentenced in the case. 

Previous allegations against the influencer

According to an official statement of the Department of Justice, Mazini was also charged with a crime on March 24, 2021. The statement claimed, "the defendant allegedly induced victims to send him Bitcoin by falsely claiming to have sent wire transfers of cash in exchange for the Bitcoin.  In reality, Igbara never sent the money, and stole at least $2.5 million worth of Bitcoin from victims. Igbara is currently being held on state charges in New Jersey and will make his initial appearance in the Eastern District of New York at a later date."

It further added, “As alleged, Igbara used his immense social media popularity to dupe his followers into selling him Bitcoin,” stated Acting United States Attorney Lesko. “This Office will continue to work closely with its law enforcement partners to stop fraudsters like the defendant from perpetrating social media scams that prey on innocent victims.” Another suit against him was when he pleaded guilty in a North Jersey kidnapping case that saw one of the social media star’s rivals beaten and held at knifepoint with a machete, reported Northjersey.com. He was then sentenced to five-year prison sentence in exchange for pleading guilty to one count of first-degree kidnapping. He is currently at the Passaic County Jail in connection with the kidnapping case.

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