Someone in the middle of a massive crypto Ponzi scheme will spend almost eight years behind the bars after a federal judge gave a 97-month prison to Brooklyn on Friday.
Dwayne Golden, 57, was convicted of wire fraud and laundering money for his role in driving scams through three digital assets firms, Empowercoin, Ecoinplus, and Jet-Coin, who fought in investors over $ 40 million, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced.
Federal prosecutors said Golden and his partners were guaranteed to return from crypto trading that did not occur. Instead, funds are made fun of paying earlier investors or lining the pockets of conspiracy, classic hallmarks of a Ponzi scheme.
Companies are folded shortly after collecting investor deposits, leaving victims with heavy losses.
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Crypto trading fake companies
The scam is operated between April and August 2017. Golden, with Gregory Aggesen and Marquis Egerton (also known as Mardy Eger) incorrectly sold their companies as traders in international crypto.
After their companies collapsed, Golden and his co-defendants attempted to hinder both a federal trading commission and a federal jury investigation, including destroying evidence and providing false information.
“The Golden and his co-defendants Scheme as an exploitation of the investor’s disturbance In the new technology.
Golden was also ordered to lose about $ 2.46 million. Co-Defend William White received a 30-month sentence, while Aggesen and Egerton were waiting for a fan.
FBI Assistant Director Christopher Raia called the conspiracy “an elaborate technique rooted in deception and false promise to swindle investors.” He emphasized that Golden’s actions have shown “a complete disregard for integrity” and praised the sentence as a warning to other scammers.
The DOJ asked investors who experienced losses from the procedure to submit restoration claims through the FBI’s focused portal.
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Five plea guilty to the $ 37m crypto scam
In a similar incident, earlier this month, five men Pleaded guilty to make a $ 36.9 million The crypto scam that deceives the Americans and filling the funds with a Cambodia crypto scam center.
The defendants target victims through social media, messaging apps, and dating platforms, enabling them with misconceptions of varied crypto investment.
So far in 2025, more than $ 2.1 billion was stolen In crypto-related incidents, with most losses tied to wallet compromise and primary mismanagement, certik co-founder Ronghui Gu said.
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