A person on the middle of a large crypto Ponzi scheme will spend practically eight years behind bars after a federal choose handed down a 97-month jail sentence in Brooklyn on Friday.
Dwayne Golden, 57, was convicted of wire fraud and cash laundering for his position in orchestrating scams via three digital asset companies, EmpowerCoin, ECoinPlus, and Jet-Coin, which defrauded buyers out of greater than $40 million, the Division of Justice (DOJ) announced.
Federal prosecutors mentioned Golden and his companions promised assured returns from crypto buying and selling that by no means passed off. As an alternative, funds had been funneled into repaying earlier buyers or lining the conspirators’ pockets, traditional 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 companies
The rip-off operated between April and August 2017. Golden, together with Gregory Aggesen and Marquis Egerton (also referred to as Mardy Eger) falsely marketed their companies as worldwide crypto merchants.
After their firms collapsed, Golden and his co-defendants tried to hinder 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 official companies and not one of the firms engaged in any precise buying and selling in cryptocurrency as they claimed,” United States Legal professional Joseph Nocella mentioned, describing the scheme as an exploitation of investor excitement over new expertise.
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 known as the conspiracy “an elaborate scheme rooted in deceit and false guarantees to swindle buyers.” He pressured 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 via the FBI’s devoted portal.
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5 plead responsible in $37M crypto rip-off
In an analogous 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 via social media, messaging apps, and courting platforms, luring them with false guarantees of worthwhile crypto investments.
Up to now 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 mentioned.
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