Founder of ‘My Big Coin’ sentenced for crypto fraud
A New York man has been convicted of defrauding investors of more than $6 million by marketing and selling fake virtual currency, the US Department of Justice said.
A jury returned a guilty verdict Thursday against Randall Crater, 51, of East Hampton, NY, in US District Court in Boston. He was convicted of four counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering and one count of operating an unlicensed money transmission business, according to court documents.
Mr. Crater faces up to 10 years in prison for each count of money laundering and up to 20 years for each count of fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on October 27.
Prosecutors said Mr. Crater founded My Big Coin Pay Inc., an alleged cryptocurrency and virtual payment services company based in Las Vegas. Between 2014 and 2017, he allegedly marketed to investors a fake digital currency called “My Big Coin” with misrepresentations of the nature and value of the coins.
Prosecutors said Mr. Crater and his associates falsely claimed the coins were a valid form of crypto, were backed by $300 million in gold, oil and other assets and had a partnership with Mastercard Inc.
Mr. Crater also claimed via social media, email and the Internet that the coins could be exchanged for fiat currency or for other virtual currencies.
But prosecutors said My Big Coins was not backed by gold or other assets, did not partner with Mastercard and the coins were not easily transferable. Mr. Crater allegedly misappropriated more than $6 million of investor funds for his own personal gain, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on antiques, art and jewelry, the Justice Department said.
Scott Lopez, a partner at the law firm Lawson & Weitzen LLP representing Mr. Crater, declined to comment in an email, citing the pending sentencing and appeal of the case.
Mr. Crater’s conviction comes nearly four years after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed fraud charges against him and his company. The market derivatives regulator also brought civil charges against the chief executive of My Big Coin and two of Mr Crater’s associates.
Write to Mengqi Sun at [email protected]
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