Iris Ramaya Au Pleads Guilty in $2.6M Crypto Tax Case

The statement of the Department of Justice, dated March 04, 2025, says that the former girlfriend of the ‘ Godfather’ has agreed to plead guilty to tax charges. The letter also notes that she agreed to pay a federal criminal tax charge for failing to report $2.6 million in crypto income.

Iris Ramaya Au, the Ex-girlfriend of Adam Iza, has pleaded guilty to one count, which involves the failed reporting of $2.6 million income, which she illegally gained from the illegal activities led by his boyfriend.

Adam Iza pleads guilty to operating multiple illicit schemes

As per the filing, Adam pleaded guilty to several counts, with operating dozens of illicit schemes in between 2020 to 2024; the DOJ said in a statement that “ Adam obtained millions of dollars of unreported income as a result of these schemes.”

It is worth noting that Adam’s girlfriend has established several shell companies and further opened bank accounts in the names of those shell companies

Ramaya reportedly used the gained funds to bribe deputies and also bought a car, real estate and several other luxury items for herself. It was also reported that the funds were also used to buy jewelry and other luxury clothing items.

Zort crypto trading was founded by Adam, which dragged him to the charges of wire fraud, conspiracy, and tax evasion. He faces up to 35 years in prison, with Ramayan held for 3 years in federal prison.

Is this crime similar to the FTX event, leading to billions in losses?

Several crypto experts say that this incident is quite similar to the FTX incident, where Sam Bankman Fried and his girlfriend Caroline Ellison were accused of looting the funds of the investors through different types of illicit activities.

They both were also accused of using the users’ funds for their personal gain and luxury. Several published reports at the end of 2022 say that Sam also used some of the funds to bribe the authorities of the United States and officials of some other nations.

Following the sudden collapse of FTX, the wider market lost over $100 billion, with several known companies opting to file for bankruptcy due to their massive and direct exposure to FTX.

Before its crash, FTX was standing on the verge of becoming the 1st leading crypto exchange, yet its tussle with the topper in exchanges has ruined its brighter paths.

Why is the crypto market reflecting mixed sentiment?

Since the past few sessions, the crypto market has been reflecting mixed sentiment, with the crypto market cap currently at $2.91 trillion with a surge of 5.47% in the past 24 hours, yet it is still in red in weekly and monthly frames.

Until publishing, Bitcoin was below the $90k mark at $88,970, and its market cap was $1.75 trillion, with a loss of 8% in the past 30 days; its trading volume was $57.08 billion with a loss of 21.20%.