Sohrab Sharma
Co-founder of Centra Tech, the 2017 ICO that the SEC says raised over $32M on fabricated partnerships. Pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 8 years in prison.
Also known as: Sam Sharma
Bio
Sohrab "Sam" Sharma co-founded Centra Tech, which ran a 2017 ICO selling the CTR token. The SEC said the offering raised over $32 million by touting nonexistent partnerships with Visa, Mastercard, and Bancorp. [1][2]
Legal outcome
Sharma pleaded guilty to fraud conspiracy charges and was sentenced to 8 years in prison; co-founders Robert Farkas and Raymond Trapani were also convicted. [1][2]
Bracketed numbers refer to the numbered sources listed below.
Sources (2)
See also
Luke BelmarIndividualsCryptocurrency influencer Luke Belmar (@lukebelmar on X) became the subject of controversy following allegations related to the promotion of a memecoin. Critics on social media alleged that Belmar used a series of posts referencing a forthcoming cryptocurrency project and a large-scale airdrop to generate interest in a token without explicitly identifying a specific contract address. Belmar published multiple posts discussing an upcoming memecoin, describing plans for what he characterized as a major airdrop and making comparisons to other cryptocurrency projects. Because no contract address was publicly provided, several tokens emerged claiming association with his statements. Critics alleged that this ambiguity enabled speculation around multiple tokens while avoiding a direct endorsement of any particular asset.
HEX / PulseChain (Richard Heart)ProjectsCrypto projects (HEX, PulseChain, PulseX) created by Richard Heart (Richard Schueler). In July 2023 the U.S. SEC sued him for offering unregistered securities that raised $1B+ and for allegedly misappropriating ~$12M for luxury goods (including a 555-carat diamond). A court dismissed the case in 2024 for lack of U.S. jurisdiction; there was no finding of wrongdoing and Heart denies the allegations.
This page was last updated on Jun 15, 2026. View revision history.
