Randall Crater – the founder of the cryptocurrency scam ‘My Big Coin’ – will spend 100 months in prison.
Federal prosecutors had previously insisted his sentence should have been 13 years.
Crater defrauded investors of over $7.5 million
US District Judge Denise Casper in Boston ruled that Crater should stay in prison for more than eight years for running a cryptocurrency scam called “My Big Coin” between 2014 and 2017. The perpetrator stole $7.5 million from investors during that time by luring them to invest in a dubious digital asset backed by gold.
He also lied that his project worked with financial services company Mastercard, while the dubious “My Big Coin” sounded similar to the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization – bitcoin. In announcing the sentence, Judge Casper said:
“Certainly, cryptocurrency is a newer business, a newer market, a 21st century market. But the design at its core was ancient and this was a fraud.”
Federal prosecutors urged authorities to sentence Casper to 13 years, which could serve as a message to other crypto fraudsters. They also revealed that he used stolen investor funds to buy expensive items for himself, including cars, art, jewelry and antiques.
The criminal, who was expected to appeal the sentence, apologized for hurting the victims but insisted he never intended to defraud anyone:
“I had no intention of stealing money from anyone. That doesn’t mean I don’t have regrets.”
Similar punishment for doctor Ilg
Former neonatologist from Spokane, Washington – Ronald Ilg – recently received 96 months in prison for paying over $60,000 worth of bitcoins to Dark Web hitmen.
He instructed them to break the arms of his former professional colleague and kidnap his estranged wife. The criminals also had to inject the woman with heroin so that she could stop the divorce proceedings with Ilg.
Fortunately for the potential victims, the FBI identified the crime and began an investigation. The doctor begged a key witness in the case to marry him and promised to pay school fees for her children so she could check her testimony in court.
Judge Nielsen took into account Ilg’s “truly egregious, even evil” actions and imposed the maximum sentence. He further said:
“A doctor’s goal in life is to protect people, to keep people alive – not to take overt steps to do the opposite.”
Binance Free $100 (Exclusive): Use this link to sign up and get $100 free and 10% off your first month of Binance Futures commissions (terms).
PrimeXBT Special Offer: Use this link to sign up and enter code POTATO50 to get up to $7,000 in your deposits.