Randall Craterfounder of “My Big Coin”, was sentenced to 100 months in prison and paid more than $7.6 million to the victims of his fraudulent scheme.
The US Justice Department reported on Jan. 31 that Crater had been convicted since Judge Denise Casper of the United States District Court in Massachusetts.
The ruling came following Crater’s conviction, handed down by a federal jury on July 21, for four counts of wire fraud, three counts of illegal money transactions e one count of operating an unlicensed money transfer business.
Randall Crater, founder of “My Big Coin,” an alleged cryptocurrency company, was sentenced today to more than eight years in federal prison for a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme uncovered by the#FBI of Boston and from @USPIS_BOS. https://t.co/567NYPndRU pic.twitter.com/a3eKaogij4
— FBI Boston (@FBIBoston) January 31, 2023
Randall Crater, the founder of “My Big Coin,” a purported cryptocurrency company, was sentenced today to more than eight years in federal prison for a multi-million dollar fraud scheme uncovered by #FBI Boston and @USPIS_BOS. https://t.co/567NYPndRU pic.twitter.com/a3eKaogij4
— FBI Boston (@FBIBoston) January 31, 2023
My Big Coin was founded by Crater in 2013 and falsely marketed as a cryptocurrency payment service, attracting victims between 2014 and 2017.
Crater claimed that My Big Coin’s coins were fully functional, gold-backed cryptocurrencies and that the platform had a partnership with Mastercard.
Crater also marketed the “My Big Coin Exchange”, advertised as a crypto exchange where coins could be exchanged for US dollars and other fiat currencies.
A significant portion of the $7.6 million raised by Crater and his marketing team went towards a home, several cars, antiques, art and jewelry worth over a million dollars .
Rachael Rollins, US Attorney, said Crater’s actions caused severe trauma and financial hardship for his victims:
“For nearly four years, Mr. Crater has perpetrated a brazen fraudulent scheme that preyed on investors and customers who placed their trust in him and his phony business, causing victims to lose more than $7.5 million.”
“His lies and deceptions inflicted real trauma, pain and hardship on the lives of 55 individual victims and their families, who poured their money into bank accounts that Mr. Crater controlled and used to finance his extravagant lifestyle “, he added.
Even after conviction, Crater continued to proclaim his innocencestating on Oct. 21 in a YouTube video that the credit card My Big Coin it actually existed, claiming that an investor had testified under oath that he had used it multiple times.
The lawsuit against Crater dates back to Sept. 25, 2018, when the now former judge Rya Zobel of the Massachusetts District Court denied a motion to dismiss the case filed by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
On February 19, 2019, the Justice Department officially filed criminal charges against Crater.
After a 100-month stint behind bars, Crater will be subject to probation for the next three years.
