Centra Tech: still possible to claim a refund for investors

It is still possible to try to request a refund if you were a victim of Centra Tech.

The Centra Tech scandal, one of the most notorious cryptocurrency frauds of recent years, continues to have repercussions even in 2025.

The company’s founders have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms for fraud and manipulation, confirming the gravity of the deception that involved thousands of investors worldwide.

The founders’ sentences

On 4 March 2021, Sohrab Sharma, also known as Sam Sharma, co-founder along with Raymond Trapani and Robert Joseph Farkas of the cryptocurrency company Centra Tech, was sentenced by the Manhattan Federal Court to 8 years in prison plus three years of supervised release.

At that time, the authorities seized approximately $36 million from his assets, as they were deemed proceeds of fraud.

The U.S. Federal Court established that Centra Tech’s founders had promoted a misleading Initial Coin Offering (ICO), advertising non-existent partnerships with major financial institutions and persuading investors to buy worthless tokens.

The lies, combined with a marketing campaign centred on celebrity endorsements of their financial products, induced investors from around the world to pour tens of millions of dollars into Centra Tech.

Centra Tech: the story of a scam

Centra Tech was founded in Miami in July 2017 by Sam Sharma, Robert J. Farkas, and Raymond Trapani.

Sharma and Trapani had met while working for Miami Exotics, a luxury car rental company in Florida.

The apparent goal of Centra Tech was to offer financial products linked to cryptocurrency.

Its flagship product was supposed to be a debit card, the “Centra Card,” which, in theory, would have allowed users to make purchases using cryptocurrency anywhere that accepted Visa or Mastercard.

From July 2017 to October 2017, Sharma and his co-defendants solicited investors to purchase unregistered securities in the form of digital tokens issued by Centra Tech (the so-called “Centra Tokens” or “CTR Tokens”), also through an Initial Coin Offering (ICO).

On 27 October 2017, the New York Times, having noticed irregularities with the company, exposed the Centra Tech situation, stressing how celebrity endorsements had given legitimacy and visibility to coin offerings that otherwise would have gone unnoticed among the many in circulation.

In reality, Centra Tech was led by three individuals with no professional experience in technologies linked to virtual currencies or in debit card production.

Investigations revealed the following facts:

• Michael Edwards, presented as Centra Tech’s CEO, with more than 20 years of banking experience and an MBA from Harvard University, and another supposed executive team member, Jessica, were fictitious people. Their résumés had been fabricated specifically to deceive investors.
• Wiretaps even revealed the intention to “get rid of” these two fictitious characters once suspicions arose, by fabricating their deaths as a married couple in an accident.
• Centra Tech had no partnership with Bancorp, Visa, or Mastercard.
• Most of Centra Tech’s licences were not genuine.

In 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice for the Southern District of New York, in collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), seized 100,000 units of Ether from Centra Tech.

These digital funds came from the purchase of Centra Tech’s tokens but had been obtained through false information given to investors.

Centra Tech’s story in a documentary

Curiosity: in 2024, the story of Centra Tech was told in the documentary BitConned, available on Netflix.

The protagonists themselves recount and explain how they orchestrated the fraud.

Why the Centra Tech scandal still matters

Despite the years that have passed, the scandal remains highly relevant because it exposed the vulnerability of many savers attracted to the cryptocurrency sector without adequate safeguards.

Many investors, both Italian and foreign, suffered heavy losses and are still waiting to be reimbursed.

Refunds for investors: what to know

Anyone who purchased unregistered securities in the form of digital tokens issued by Centra Tech (CTR Tokens) between 23 July 2017 and 2 April 2018, including through an ICO between 23 July 2017 and approximately 5 October 2017, still potentially has the right to file a refund claim.

The importance of legal assistance

Refund procedures are complex and vary from case to case.

It is therefore crucial to rely on a lawyer specialising in international law and financial fraud, capable of assisting investors in filing claims and exploring all possible legal actions.

The Centra Tech case remains a warning about the dangers of unregulated investments. At the same time, it represents a real opportunity for those who lost money: with legal assistance, it is still possible to try to obtain at least partial reimbursement.

If you invested in Centra Tech, contact a lawyer from the Forex Department of Boccadutri International Law Firm today to receive advice and assess your refund options.

FAQs Centra Tech: still possible to claim a refund for investors

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