Man Sentenced To 51 Months In Prison For Fraud, Ordered To Pay $6.1 Million

Mykalai Kontilai, a 55-year-old Las Vegas resident, was sentenced on Thursday to 51 months in prison and ordered to pay $6.1 million in restitution for his involvement in a long-running fraud scheme. Kontilai, who previously went by Michael Contile, orchestrated an investment fraud through his company, Collector's Coffee Inc., also known as Collector's Café.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Kontilai was CEO of Collector's Coffee and deceived investors from 2012 to 2018 by claiming the company was about to launch an online auction platform for collectibles, including sports and Hollywood memorabilia.

Kontilai successfully raised approximately $23 million from Collector's Coffee investors and then stole approximately $6.1 million for his own personal use, including for the purchase of luxury goods, apartments, and vehicles.

The SEC began investigating Kontilai around 2017, during which he obstructed justice by forging documents and lying under oath. Facing charges in Nevada and Colorado, Kontilai fled to Russia. He was later arrested in Germany on an Interpol Red Notice in 2023 and extradited to the United States in May to face the charges.

On Nov. 21, Kontilai pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. As part of the plea agreement in the case, the government moved to dismiss the Colorado case.

SEC Charges Kiromic BioPharma, CEO, CFO With Failure To Disclose Material Information

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday filed settled charges against biotherapeutics company Kiromic BioPharma, Inc. (OTC:KRBP), its former CEO Maurizio Chiriva-Internati, and its former CFO Tony Tontat, for failing to disclose material information about Kiromic's two cancer fighting drug candidates before, during, and after a July 2021 follow-on public offering that raised $40 million.

The SEC's order found that two weeks before the public offering, the Food and Drug Administration notified Kiromic BioPharma that it had placed the drug candidates on clinical hold.

Kiromic BioPhamra did not disclose the FDA clinical holds in its SEC filings, investor roadshow calls, or during due diligence calls leading up to the offering, despite the fact that Kiromic disclosed the hypothetical risk of a clinical hold and the potential negative consequences on Kiromic's business.

Kiromic BioPharma and Tontat agreed to settle the SEC's charges in separate administrative proceedings and Chiriva agreed to settle the charges in federal district court. Kiromic was not ordered to pay a civil penalty in light of its self-reporting, cooperation, and remediation, and Chiriva and Tontat agreed to pay civil penalties of $125,000 and $20,000, respectively, to settle the SEC's charges.

"These resolutions strike the right balance between holding Kiromic's then-two most senior officers responsible for Kiromic's disclosure failures while also crediting Kiromic for its voluntary self-report, remediation, proactively instituting remedial measures, and providing meaningful cooperation to the staff," said Eric Werner, Director of the SEC's Fort Worth Regional Office.

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