New York scammer gets 97-month prison sentence

COLUMBUS – The CEO of a New York-based venture capital firm who conspired to defraud more than 50 investors of millions of dollars in a pre-IPO scam has been sentenced to prison for his crime.

George Iakovou, 30, of New York, N.Y., was sentenced to serve 97 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Clay Land. Iakovou pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud on Aug. 8. Iakovou is not eligible for parole.

"George Iakovou's financial scheme and lies harmed people, causing irreparable damage to his victims," U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary said in a news release. "Law enforcement at every level in the Middle District of Georgia will continue to do everything in our power to hold con artists accountable for their crimes."

"George Iakovou's greed will have an everlasting effect on the victims he defrauded," Resident Agent in Charge Clint Bush of the U.S. Secret Service's Albany Resident Office said. "The United States Secret Service will continue to investigate, arrest and support the successful prosecution of the criminals who choose to commit this and other types of financial fraud in our community and around the nation."

According to court documents, in July 2021 the U.S. Secret Service began investigating a pre-IPO (initial public offering) scheme orchestrated by Iakovou, the CEO of Vika Ventures LLC, a boutique venture capital firm headquartered in New York, which purported to specialize in pre-IPO investments in various early and late-stage private companies.

Iakovou advertised that Vika had access to buy pre-IPO shares in private companies such as Palantir, Airbnb, SpaceX and Stripe. He claimed that once these private companies went public and the mandatory six-month lockout period expired, Vika would distribute the purchased shares to the investors.

In fact, Iakovou had neither access to pre-IPO shares in the advertised companies nor owned the shares at the time of the solicitations. While Iakovou did take the victim-investors' money, he did not purchase or acquire any of the promised shares. Iakovou established fake email domains, posed as representatives from private equity brokerage firms and created fake bank statements among other tricks to carry out his fraud scheme.

USSS identified more than 50 victim-investors from across the country who provided capital to Vika between January 2020 and December 2021, including two victims in the Middle District of Georgia. A review of bank records for Vika's investor account showed that identified victim-investors paid Vika approximately $5,958,505 for the purchase of pre-IPO shares of select private companies, but none received their promised shares.

Iakovou rerouted the money to several accounts, including personal bank accounts, and used the money for private jet charters, cars, home furnishings, artwork, luxury clothing and accessories. For example, Iakovou spent $135,528 on a 2021 Corvette Stingray and more than $500,000 on luxury watches, including $231,799 on a single Patek Philippe timepiece.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Williams prosecuted the case.