Former Seattle semi-pro rugby player sentenced for crypto Ponzi scheme
Former Seattle semi-pro rugby player sentenced for crypto Ponzi scheme
A former Seattle semi-pro rugby player was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for scamming people for hundreds of thousands of dollars in a cryptocurrency mining Ponzi scheme.
SEATTLE - A former Seattle semi-pro rugby player was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for scamming people for hundreds of thousands of dollars in a cryptocurrency mining Ponzi scheme.
The backstory:
According to the Department of Justice, 37-year-old Shane Moore operated a company that claimed to be purchasing and operating cryptocurrency mining equipment, but in reality, no mining machines were ever purchased, and investments were being used to pay off earlier investors.
The fraudulent activities happened between January 2021 and October 2022, where Moore allegedly promised big returns to investors, saying he would use the money to buy computers for crypto mining and they would receive 1% of their investment daily based on the work of the machines.
However, there was no actual crypto mining operation, and early investors recruited their friends and family into the scheme. Many of the investors were people Moore knew from his rugby activities, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
"Mr. Moore used the newness of cryptocurrency to commit an age-old fraud – a Ponzi scheme," said Acting U.S. Attorney Miller. "He solicited more than $900,000 from some 40 investors claiming it would be used for ‘mining cryptocurrency.’ Instead, the money went to support a lavish lifestyle, and to pay off the earliest investors to keep the fraud going. He left a path of damaged relationships in his wake."
Moore is accused of using investors' money to buy clothes, electronics, luggage, travel and a deposit for a luxury apartment. He did use some of it to buy cryptocurrency to pay back investors, lulling them into believing the cryptocurrency mining operation existed.
Moore's victim-investors suffered a loss of more than $387,000, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Wynne said.
"Most people have suffered serious trauma like you, but you have also had many opportunities and advantages that many people have not," said U.S. District Judge Tana Lin at sentencing.
Moore will now spend up to 30 months behind bars for wire fraud.
The Source: Information in this story came from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Washington.
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