Appeal Denied: My Big Coin Founder to Serve 8-Year Sentence for Crypto Fraud
Summary:
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has confirmed the conviction of Randall Crater, founder of My Big Coin, for several counts of wire fraud and illegal transactions. Crater promoted his company as a legitimate cryptocurrency payment service from 2014 to 2017, amassing illegitimate earnings of roughly $7.6 billion. With authorities denying Crater's request for a retrial, he must now serve his prison sentence of over eight years, in addition to repaying victims over $7.6 billion.
The conviction of Randall Crater, the founder of My Big Coin, a cryptocurrency project, has been upheld by an appeals court, ensuring he serves over eight years behind bars. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit confirmed Crater's conviction on February 23, affirming the decision of the jury that found him guilty of several counts of wire fraud, illegal monetary transactions, and running a business of money transmission without a license, a year ago. Judges Gustavo Gelpí, Jeffrey Howard and Julie Rikelman from the appellate, gave reasons why Crater did not merit a retrial for his involvement in the fraudulent crypto operation.
The legal representatives of Crater expressed that the court infringed on his rights stipulated in the Sixth Amendment by refusing to exec1ute subpoenas on witnesses he believed would assist his case and by letting Pamela Clegg, a cryptocurrency expert from CipherTrace whom he considered unqualified, testify. The judges disputed any claims made by Crater's attorneys insisting that none substantiated a dismissal of the conviction.
Acccording to the findings of CipherTrace, My Big Coin was not attached to a public blockchain therefore lacked vital indications of a functioning cryptocurrency till June 2017, long after Crater had promoted My Big Coin as an equivalent to Bitcoin.
My Big Coin, established by Crater in 2013, was deceitfully portrayed as a cryptocurrency payment service by him, an action that produced around $7.6 billion in illegal earnings from 55 victims between 2014 and 2017. Crater deceitfully declared that the platform's tokens had gold backing and that the company entered into a deal with Mastercard for a credit card for users.
Criminal charges were lodged against Crater by the Justice Department in February 2019. He was convicted in January 2023 and handed a sentence of 100 months in prison. In addition, he was told to reimburse victims more than $7.6 billion, funds Crater supposedly used in acquiring a house, vehicles and collectibles.
Prominent individuals in the crypto sector such as former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky, and former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried have been prosecuted by U.S. authorities. Zhao confessed to one count of felony and sentencing is to take place in April. Bankman-Fried got convicted on seven counts in November, with a sentence due on March 28. Meanwhile, Mashinsky has a trial scheduled in September. Authorities in the U.S. are turning up the pressure on crypto-related crime.
Published At
2/26/2024 11:44:55 PM
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