French crypto fraudester’s sentence upheld in Morocco

A French man, Thomas Clausi (21), has had his jail sentence upheld in Morocco for using Bitcoin to buy luxury goods. The Casablanca Court of Appeal overturned his appeal and upheld the original 18-month jail term and $3.8 million fine for fraud and payment with a foreign currency on Moroccan territory.

Clausi was convicted on multiple counts, including purchasing a Ferrari worth $442,000 worth of BTC from a French woman in Casablanca and defrauding a Moroccan man by giving him a not sufficient funds (NSF) check and BTC in exchange for three luxury watches.

Clausi’s family claimed that he had traveled to Morocco to “open an African neobank,” but his legal team failed to prove their client’s ignorance of Morocco’s strict crypto rules.

The Moroccan government has been considering ditching the law in favor of fostering a regulated crypto sector and has consulted with industry representatives.

Thomas Clausi claims to be a founder on his Linkedin. His introduction section talks about the opening of a “neobank” in African countries such as Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania, Algeria and others.