A person on the middle of an enormous crypto Ponzi scheme will spend almost eight years behind bars after a federal decide handed down a 97-month jail sentence in Brooklyn on Friday.
Dwayne Golden, 57, was convicted of wire fraud and cash laundering for his function in orchestrating scams by means of three digital asset corporations, EmpowerCoin, ECoinPlus, and Jet-Coin, which defrauded buyers out of greater than $40 million, the Division of Justice (DOJ) announced.
Federal prosecutors stated Golden and his companions promised assured returns from crypto buying and selling that by no means passed off. As an alternative, funds have been funneled into repaying earlier buyers or lining the conspirators’ pockets, basic hallmarks of a Ponzi scheme.
The businesses folded shortly after accumulating investor deposits, leaving victims with heavy losses.
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Faux crypto buying and selling corporations
The rip-off operated between April and August 2017. Golden, together with Gregory Aggesen and Marquis Egerton (often known as Mardy Eger) falsely marketed their corporations as worldwide crypto merchants.
After their corporations collapsed, Golden and his co-defendants tried to impede each a Federal Commerce Fee probe and a federal grand jury investigation, together with by destroying proof and offering false data.
“Golden and his co-defendants provided no respectable companies and not one of the corporations engaged in any precise buying and selling in cryptocurrency as they claimed,” United States Legal professional Joseph Nocella stated, describing the scheme as an exploitation of investor excitement over new know-how.
Golden was additionally ordered to forfeit roughly $2.46 million. Co-defendant William White acquired a 30-month sentence, whereas Aggesen and Egerton are awaiting sentencing.
FBI Assistant Director Christopher Raia referred to as the conspiracy “an elaborate scheme rooted in deceit and false guarantees to swindle buyers.” He confused that Golden’s actions confirmed “an utter disregard for integrity” and praised the sentence as a warning to different would-be scammers.
The DOJ requested buyers who suffered losses from the scheme to submit restitution claims by means of the FBI’s devoted portal.
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5 plead responsible in $37M crypto rip-off
In an identical incident, earlier this month, 5 males pleaded guilty to orchestrating a $36.9 million crypto rip-off that defrauded People and funneled funds to a crypto rip-off middle in Cambodia.
The defendants focused victims by means of social media, messaging apps, and courting platforms, luring them with false guarantees of worthwhile crypto investments.
To this point in 2025, over $2.1 billion has been stolen in crypto-related incidents, with most losses tied to pockets compromises and key mismanagement, CertiK co-founder Ronghui Gu stated.
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