- U.S. District Court Judge Denise Casper sentenced the founder of a multi-million fraudulent crypto scheme to eight years.
- The team amassed $7.6 million and spent it on a house, cars, and other luxurious items.
The U.S. Department of Justice issued a press release on 31 January, which stated that My Big Coin founder Randall Crater was sentenced to 100 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Denise Casper in Massachusetts.
My Big Coin was a fraudulent cryptocurrency company that defrauded investors out of millions of dollars. Crater had to pay more than $7.6 million to victims of his deceptive cryptocurrency scheme.
Crater was earlier convicted on four counts of wire fraud, three counts of unlawful monetary transactions, and one count of operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business by a federal jury in July 2022. He founded My Big Coin in 2013 and falsely marketed it as a cryptocurrency payment service, enticing victims between 2014 and 2017.
The coins on My Big Coin were fully functional cryptocurrencies, backed by gold and affiliated the platform with Mastercard. Crater claimed to the investors. He also promoted My Big Coin Exchange, in which investors could exchange coins for US dollars and other fiat currencies.
Expenditure on house and luxury
Crater and his marketing team spent a large chunk of the $7.6 million on a house, several cars, and over $1 million on antiques, artwork, and jewelry.
Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division, said:
“Spreading outright lies, Randall Crater defrauded dozens of victims out of more than $7.5 million, convincing them their cryptocurrency investments were backed by gold when in reality their hard-earned money went to funding his lavish lifestyle.”
Crater has been the subject of legal action since 25 September, 2018, when now-former Judge Rya Zobel of the Massachusetts District Court denied a motion to dismiss a case brought by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). On 19 February, 2019, the Department of Justice officially filed criminal charges against Crater.
After serving his 100-month sentence, Crater will be released on supervised release for the next three years.
