United States v. Sohrab Sharma et al. Remission Administration

The United States is initiating a Remission process to return forfeited money to eligible victims of frauds perpetrated by Centra Tech. The Remission process is governed by the Code of Federal Regulations at 28 C.F.R. Part 9 (the “Regulations”) and overseen by the Department of Justice’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section (DOJ-MNF). DOJ-MNF hired Epiq Class Action and Claims Solutions, Inc. (“Epiq”) to serve as the Remission Administrator for this matter. The Petition for Remission Form (“Petition”) must have been submitted by April 28, 2023 in order to be potentially eligible to share in the distribution from the forfeited assets.

From approximately July 23, 2017, through October 5, 2017, Robert Joseph Farkas, Sohrab Sharma, and Raymond Trapani, through their company, Centra Tech (collectively referred to herein as “Centra Tech” or “the Defendants”), claimed to offer cryptocurrency-related financial products including a debit card that allowed users to spend cryptocurrency at stores that accepted MasterCard and Visa. The Defendants solicited investors to purchase unregistered securities in the form of digital tokens issued by Centra Tech (“CTR Tokens”), through a so-called “initial coin offering” or “ICO.” The representations made to help secure these investments, however, were false. The Defendants fabricated Centra Tech executive team members, did not have appropriate state licenses, and did not have relationships with financial services providers.

Based in part on these false representations, victim ICO investors provided millions of dollars’ worth of digital currency in investments for the purchase of CTR Tokens. Many CTR Tokens were subsequently traded on the secondary market while the defendants continued to misrepresent Centra Tech’s qualifications and capabilities. On April 2, 2018, two of the Defendants were publicly charged with violations of federal criminal law by a Criminal Complaint filed in the Southern District of New York and the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed a civil complaint in the Southern District of New York. Subsequently, the price of CTR Tokens declined to nearly zero.

The United States Attorney’s Offices in Southern District of New York pursued civil and criminal forfeiture of property derived from the proceeds of the fraud scheme. Upon the issuance of a final order of forfeiture, the net proceeds of those forfeited assets will be available to compensate victims through the Remission process.

A Petition for Remission is a request made to the Attorney General by victims of criminal activity to recover money that they have lost as a result of a particular crime. During the Remission process, the net proceeds of assets forfeited to the government are returned to the victims of the crime underlying the forfeiture. The regulations at 28 C.F.R. Part 9 govern the Remission process. The final Remission decisions are made by DOJ-MNF, on behalf of the Attorney General. Deadline to file a Petition for Remission was April 28, 2023.

Victims who disagree with the Remission decision will have an opportunity to request reconsideration by DOJ-MNF. If you received a Notice of Denied Remission Submission or a Notice of Partially Granted for Remission, the deadline to submit a Request for Reconsideration is December 10, 2025. However, since Remission is a discretionary act by the Attorney General, final decisions are not reviewable in court.

The deadline to file a Petition for Remission was April 28, 2023. New Petitions for Remission are not being accepted.

To qualify for a payment, you must have submitted a completed Petition for Remission form with supporting documentation to the Remission Administrator online or by mail no later than April 28, 2023.

The deadline to file a Petition for Remission was April 28, 2023. New Petitions for Remission are not being accepted.

Neither the Department of Justice nor the Remission Administrator charge fees for you to participate in the Remission process.

Please beware of other websites, entities, or communications you may receive claiming to administer the Remission process, Remission payments, or any other kind of refund from DOJ. Victims are never required to pay or hire an attorney to take part in any DOJ Remission process, including the process in this case.

The deadline to file a Petition for Remission was April 28, 2023. New Petitions for Remission are not being accepted.

The Remission regulations recognize out-of-pocket pecuniary losses (i.e. the amount paid for the CTR Tokens, minus any amount realized from its sale and any other recoveries). The Remission regulations do not permit the payment of transaction fees, forgone interest, attorney fees, or collateral expenses incurred to recover lost property or to seek other recompense.

Yes, the Remission Administrator (Epiq) sent Notices of Incomplete Submission for Remission to all Petitioners with deficient Petitions specifying the additional information that must have been submitted. The deficiency must have been corrected within 30 days of the mailing date of the Notice. This process is now closed.

Starting November 10, 2025, Notices of Denied Remission Submission and Notices of Partially Granted for Remission are being mailed and emailed to Petitioners notifying Petitioners of the DOJ-MNF’s decision on the Petitions for Remission. If you disagree with the DOJ-MNF’s decision, the deadline to request reconsideration is December 10, 2025.

Social Security numbers are collected to maintain compliance with the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 (DCIA), 31 U.S.C. § 3716. The DCIA requires the Department of the Treasury and other disbursing officials to offset Federal payments to collect delinquent non-tax debts owed to the United States, or delinquent debts owed to states, including past-due child support enforced by states. If an offset is made during an electronic funds transfer, the Petitioner will receive a notification from the Department of the Treasury at the last address provided by the debtor to the creditor. If you believe that your payment may be subject to an offset, you may contact the Treasury Department at 1-800-304-3107. If you have a Social Security number, failure to provide the number will result in denial of your Petition.

If you have an ITIN, enter your ITIN instead of a Social Security number.

Yes, but they will need to supply signed documents from each victim indicating they represent them and are permitted to file on their behalf. The SSN/TIN provided must be that of the client and not the attorney.

The deadline to file a Petition was April 28, 2023. We are longer accepting New Petitions for Remission. The deadline to request reconsideration is December 10, 2025.

If you need your name changed because of a marriage or divorce, please provide a copy of your marriage license or divorce decree, and a copy of your current government-issued ID.

Documentation for all the transaction in and holdings of CTR Tokens should be submitted with your submission. Please obtain any documents that are not in your possession, including from any exchange that was used to conduct the transactions. Such documentation may include emails, text messages, screenshots, or any other confirmation of your digital currency transaction(s). DO NOT SEND original supporting documentation. Keep a copy of all documents that you send to the Remission Administrator. Also, please do not highlight any portion of the Petition or any supporting documents.

The Department of Justice nor the Remission Administrator cannot pre-approve any documentation as acceptable without seeing it first.

If you received a Notice of Denied Remission Submission, Procedures for Reconsideration or a Notice of Partially Granted Petition for Remission, please review the back of your Notice and any additional pages to see what documentation was lacking if you are considering requesting reconsideration by December 10, 2025. Your request must be based on documentation not previously provided that is relevant to the reasons for the denial or presents evidence clearly demonstrating that the denial was erroneous.

If the forfeited funds are insufficient to fully compensate all the victims in a multi-victim case, the funds will be distributed on a pro rata basis in accordance with the amount of loss suffered by each victim.

You can receive your payment by check, digital payment, or via wire. Please indicate on your Petition which payment method you prefer. If your Petition is approved or partially approved, you will be sent an email from the Remission Administrator for additional information. If you do not respond to that email, or the information you provide is invalid, you will be sent a check to the address provided on the submitted Petition form.

Payments will be distributed once the Reconsideration process is completed for all Petitioners. Remission Administrator will reach out for preferred method of payment prior to distribution.

Payments will be distributed once the Reconsideration process is completed for all Petitioners. The deadline to request reconsideration is December 10, 2025. It will still take some time to process and review any Requests for Reconsideration and determine who is eligible to get a payment. Please continue to check this website for updates on the status of the process.

Starting November 10, 2025, Notices of Denied Remission Submission, Procedures for Reconsideration and Notices of Partially Granted Petition for Remission are being mailed and emailed to Petitioners notifying Petitioners of the DOJ-MNF’s decision on the Petitions for Remission. If you agree with this decision, there is nothing for you to do. Payments will be distributed to granted and partially granted Petitions once the Reconsideration process is complete for all Petitioners. If you disagree with the DOJ-MNF’s decision, the deadline to request reconsideration is December 10, 2025. This is the only opportunity to request reconsideration of the DOJ-MNF’s decision.

You may file a request for reconsideration of the decision in the manner described in your decision letter. Requests for Reconsideration are governed by 28 C.F.R. § 9.1(b) (2). Only one Request for Reconsideration is permitted.

See FAQ 14 for acceptable documentation to submit in support of your Request for Reconsideration. If you have any questions about this notice, or if you want to confirm the status of your Request for Reconsideration after you submit a response to this notice, please contact us at the toll-free number or email address noted above.

You must submit a written Request for Reconsideration (with any required documentation) to the US v. Centra Tech Remission Administrator, PO Box 5834, Portland, OR 97228-5834 or via email to info@CentraTechRemission.com. Your Request for Reconsideration must be postmarked no later than December 10, 2025.

If you did not file a Petition for Remission, you are not eligible to receive payment from the Remission Fund. The deadline to submit a Petition for Remission was April 28, 2023.

If you received a Notice of Denied Remission Submission or Notice of Partially Granted Submission, please see FAQ 18.

If your Petition for Remission was granted, payments will be distributed once the Reconsideration process is completed for all Petitioners who received a Notice of Denied Remission Submission or Notice of Partially Granted Submission.

Please note that Out-of-Pocket Pecuniary Loss is NOT the same as market loss. It is possible to have a market loss, in which you experience a loss in value of your tokens, and still have Out-of-Pocket Pecuniary Loss under the Remission regulations (28 C.F.R. § 9.8).

All documentation previously submitted to the Remission Administrator/DOJ-MNF did not show that you purchased or received CTR tokens from July 23, 2017, through April 2, 2018 (the “Remission Period”).

Documentation you provided shows that one or more of the transactions you provided on your Petition were for purchasing or receiving non-CTR tokens. Only transactions involving CTR tokens purchased or received during the Remission Period are eligible.

Your Petition of Remission references that you purchased or received CTR tokens during the Remission Period, but none of the documentation previously provided was adequate to prove that you own the contribution address used to pay for the CTR Tokens.

Acceptable documentation included wallet screenshots confirming wallet ownership, confirmation of token/contribution address, confirmation of transactions claiming loss, proof that the contribution address listed is, in fact, owned by the petitioner.

Your Petition is missing some or all the information required for one or more of the transactions submitted on your Petition for Remission. All of the documentation that you previously submitted to the Remission Administrator/DOJ-MNF did not include some or all of the required information for certain transactions. You must have genuine and sufficient documentation that supports all of the information on price, date, quantity, currency, and type of transaction for each transaction listed in your Petition.

We don’t have all the information we need on one or more of your transactions submitted on your Petition for Remission. All of the documentation that you previously submitted to the Remission Administrator/DOJ-MNF did not include some or all of the required information for those transactions. You did not provide all of the information on price, date, quantity, currency, and type of transaction for each transaction on your Petition. Genuine documentation supporting the information entered in your Petition must be provided.

Your Petition indicates that you still had CTR tokens in your possession at the end of the Remission Period. However, you did not provide genuine documentation demonstrating how many CTR tokens you still owned on April 2, 2018. For your petition to be complete, documentation is needed that shows the quantity of CTR tokens you had in your possession at the end of the Remission period. Without this documentation we are unable to verify the disposition of your purchased CTR tokens and whether or not you suffered a pecuniary loss.

The wallet address that you provided that was used to send payment for CTR tokens or the wallet address used to receive CTR tokens was the wrong format or length for an address that could have been used in such a transaction. The wallet address could not be verified on the corresponding blockchain.

This means your claim does not mathematically balance. There is a discrepancy between the number of CTR tokens you reported on your Petition to have purchased, acquired, and/or sold and the number of CTR tokens held at the beginning of the Remission Period, July 23, 2017, through April 2, 2018. This might be because you didn’t provide all of your transactions, or you didn’t provide how many unsold tokens you held as of April 2, 2018. If it is a negative imbalance, we are missing purchases or beginning tokens. If it is a positive imbalance, we are missing sales or unsold tokens. Balancing your transactions is required to verify the disposition of all your purchased and sold CTR Tokens.

You may obtain additional information by contacting the Remission Administrator using the contact information located on the Contact Us page of this website.

You can update your contact information by contacting the Remission Administrator by email at info@CentraTechRemission.com.

Epiq Class Action and Claims Solutions, Inc., ("Epiq"), is a neutral third-party that has been engaged as the Remission Administrator by USDOJ-MNF to assist in notifying potential Petitioners, reviewing the Petitions, conduct follow‑up communications with Petitioners, making decision recommendations, and mailing remission checks to eligible Petitioners.