A person on the middle of an enormous 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 function in orchestrating scams by way of three digital asset companies, EmpowerCoin, ECoinPlus, and Jet-Coin, which defrauded buyers out of greater than $40 million, the Division of Justice (DOJ) introduced.
Federal prosecutors stated Golden and his companions promised assured returns from crypto buying and selling that by no means befell. 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 (often known as Mardy Eger) falsely marketed their companies 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 info.
“Golden and his co-defendants supplied no legit 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 pleasure over new know-how.
Golden was additionally ordered to forfeit roughly $2.46 million. Co-defendant William White obtained 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 burdened 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 way of the FBI’s devoted portal.
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In an analogous incident, earlier this month, 5 males pleaded responsible 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 way of social media, messaging apps, and relationship 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 stated.
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