On August 10, 2025, Icon Academy LLC, owned by Brian McMullen, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (Case No. 2:2025cv07458) against Hassan Mahmoud and Noa Techs – FZCO, alleging that Mahmoud embezzled funds from Iqonic and raided its affiliate network to launch the competing Noa platform, per Justia Dockets. McMullen claims Mahmoud, while serving as Iqonic’s President and CEO, secretly developed Noa starting in early 2025, using Iqonic’s confidential information, database, and materials to solicit key affiliates, per the complaint. Mahmoud was served on August 23, 2025, and filed a motion to dismiss on October 29, 2025, without an answer or counter-suit yet
Iqonic, launched in April 2025 as a reboot of Eaconomy (a trading-focused MLM that collapsed multiple times), is operated through Icon Academy LLC, a Delaware company co-owned by McMullen and Mahmoud, per. McMullen, a former Modere promoter whose company collapsed in August 2025, co-founded Iqonic but is not listed on its website, raising disclosure concerns under FTC rules, per. Mahmoud, with a history in Enagic water filters, SilverStar Live (CFTC-settled fraud in 2019), and Eaconomy (multiple regulatory warnings), allegedly held multiple top-level affiliate accounts in Iqonic, using one to embezzle funds, per the lawsuit. Iqonic’s domain was registered in March 2025, and it hides ownership details, per.
McMullen accuses Mahmoud of breaching fiduciary duty, contract, and engaging in fraud by registering Noa’s domain (joinnoa.io) on June 28, 2025, and launching it in July 2025, per. A cease-and-desist letter sent on July 23, 2025, demanded compliance, but Mahmoud refused, allegedly disrupting Iqonic by cutting affiliate access to products, per. Noa, registered in Dubai (FZCO structure hides owners), features fabricated testimonials and false claims like “95% Customer Satisfaction” and “200K+ Lives Impacted,” per. McMullen alleges Mahmoud copied Iqonic’s user agreements verbatim and used its database to recreate Noa’s affiliate genealogy, avoiding years of building from scratch, per. Mahmoud’s history includes 2020 lawsuit against Sal Leto (Auvoria Prime) and 2023 against Ali Saleh for similar raiding, per.
The lawsuit lists 10 causes of action, including Defend Trade Secrets Act violations, false advertising, breach of fiduciary duty, intentional interference, fraud, unjust enrichment, and California Business & Professions Code breaches, seeking damages and injunctive relief, per. Mahmoud’s October 29, 2025, motion to dismiss claims he was ousted in a “hostile takeover,” accusing McMullen of fraud and conspiracy, per. No counter-suit has been filed, and the case is ongoing, with Mahmoud’s response due by October 29, 2025, per Justia. Iqonic and Nueva (McMullen’s May 2025 launch) both hide ownership, potentially violating FTC disclosure rules, per. Dubai ties raise red flags for MLM schemes, per.
This lawsuit highlights ongoing MLM crypto fraud risks, with GSPartners ($1B losses) and Forsage ($340M) as precedents, per. Iqonic and Noa traffic is low (Iqonic: 307,000 monthly visits, mostly U.S./Germany; Noa: untracked), but affiliate raiding could devastate investors, per SimilarWeb. BTC ($113,234) and ETH ($4,070) unaffected, per CoinMarketCap, but MLM scams erode trust. Avoid undisclosed MLMs; verify via sec.gov and FTC.gov. Diversify into USDC or ETH with stop-losses below BTC’s $112,000, per TradingView. Follow @TheBlock__ on X for updates. The case could set precedents for MLM transparency in 2026, per.
