The first economic conviction against Leonardo Cositorto and others responsible for the project Zoe generationfor the contractual breach and fraud to investors who deposited their trust and savings in the company. Commercial Court No. 1 of the City of Buenos Aires issued the sentence ordering the payment of $ 414,000 plus interest, in favor of a group of victims that initiated the lawsuit.
The case, entitled “ALONSO IRMA AND OTHERS C/ GENERATION ZOE SA AND OTHERS S/ OR ORDINARY”he presented the pyramidal scheme mounted by Cositorto and its partners, who promised the investors unreal 7.5% monthly, as well as additional benefits through a referral system. The evidence presented showed that the investors’ funds were never reintegrated and that the company stopped operating abruptly.
The Court recognized the plaintiffs as consumers under Law 24,240 on consumer defense, which allowed them to access the free justice benefit. In addition, it was stressed that the deceptive advertising of Zoe generation, disseminated through media and social networks, was key to attracting investors and perpetuating the scam.
“The ruling is a key precedent in the fight against fraudulent schemes and marks a milestone by being the first economic condemnation against Leonardo Cositorto in Argentina. This judicial decision feels the bases for future resolutions in favor of other victims affected by the Zoe Generation structure, ”said Dr. Germán Navaslawyer representative of the victims.
“Demand against Zoe SA generation, Zoe Empowerment SA, Leonardo Nelson Cositorto, Maximiliano Javier Batista, and Echegaray Miguel Ángel, for contractual breach. They claimed the total sum of U $ D414,615.74, More interest and coast. They reported that they were contacted through different people close to their social and family environments to participate in a “business opportunity” and join to be part of the “Zoe Generation” project, which led Leonardo Nelson Cositorto and Maximiliano Javier Batista. They clarified that those who contacted them, in turn, had been previously invited by other people in the same way, in a successive pyramidal chain whose head were the people demanded here. ”He clarified the ruling.
In another part of the sentence, the fraud modality is described and as the fraud was proceeded. “They said that to enter they requested a minimum mandatory investment called” membership “of US $ 400, although there were also more expensive memberships called “Premium” of US $ 1,000, US $ 2,000 or even US $ 5,000. They said that while everyone paid the minimum income amount, some did it through the “Premium” option. They added that in all cases the investment was three years, with the promise that would generate an economic benefit of 7.5% monthly interest, which was extremely attractive since it was a much greater interest offered by any financial entity. ”
Cositorto was arrested at the Bouwer prison, in the province of Córdoba, waiting for numerous judgments. In the same penitentiary are Miguel Ángel Echegaray and Maximiliano Javier Batista, who together with Cositorto are accused of performing 163 acts of repeated fraud. The case, which also has a series on the Netflix platform, is going through the first oral trial in the Correntina city of Goya, where the accused was transferred to appear, one of the localities where complaints were recorded against the entity.
Against the judicial current, last week, the National Securities Commission He acquitted Cositorto, since he determined that he did not make a public offer of negotiable securities and therefore “did not violate the capital market law.” Zoe generation marketed a cryptocurrency called Zoe Cash, that was supposedly backed in gold. However, only since last year, the CNV forces companies or people who offer services related to virtual assets, such as cryptocurrencies or Tokens digital, to register in a registry.
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