Founder of My Big Coin Randall Crate received 8 years in prison for fraud
2023.02.01 03:19
Founder of My Big Coin Randall Crate received 8 years in prison for fraud
By Tiffany Smith
Budrigannews.com – Randall Crater, the founder of “My Big Coin,” was given a sentence of 100 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $7.6 million to the people who were scammed by his scheme.
On January 31, the United States Department of Justice announced that Massachusetts United States District Court Judge Denise Casper handed down Crater’s sentence.
On July 21, a federal jury found Crater guilty of four counts of wire fraud, three counts of unlawful monetary transactions, and one count of operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business. The sentence comes after the conviction.
For a multi-million dollar fraud scheme that was discovered by #FBI Boston and @USPIS_BOS, Randall Crater, the founder of “My Big Coin,” a purported cryptocurrency company, was sentenced today to more than eight years in federal prison.
Crater founded My Big Coin in 2013, misrepresenting itself as a cryptocurrency payment service and luring victims from 2014 to 2017.
Crater asserted that My Big Coin’s coins were gold-backed, fully functional cryptocurrencies and that the platform was partnered with Mastercard.
Crater also promoted the “My Big Coin Exchange,” a cryptocurrency exchange where coins could be exchanged for dollars and other fiat currencies.
Crater and his marketing team received $7.6 million, which they used to buy a house, several cars, and over $1 million worth of antiques, artwork, and jewelry.
In a statement, U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins stated that Crater’s damage caused his victims significant trauma and financial hardship:
“Mr. Crater perpetrated a brazen fraud scheme that preyed on investors and customers who put their faith in him and his fake business, resulting in victim losses of more than $7.5 million.” This scheme lasted for nearly four years.
She went on to say that “His lies and deception inflicted real trauma, pain, and hardship on the lives of 55 individual victims and their families.” These victims put their money into bank accounts that Mr. Crater controlled and used to pay for his extravagant lifestyle.
Crater maintained his innocence even after his conviction, claiming in a YouTube video posted on October 21 that a My Big Coin credit card did in fact exist and that an investor testified under oath to having used the card multiple times.
Crater has been the target of legal action since September 25, 2018, when the then-former Judge Rya Zobel of the Massachusetts District Court denied the CFTC’s motion to dismiss the case.
On February 19, 2019, the Department of Justice officially brought criminal charges against Crater.
Crater will be subject to supervised release for the next three years after serving his 100-month sentence.
