Randall Crater was sentenced to 100 months in prison and three years of supervised release after being compelled to repay victims of his fraudulent crypto scam.
Randall Crater, the founder of “My Big Coin,” was sentenced to 100 months in jail and compelled to pay over $7.6 million to the victims of his fraudulent scam.
The Crater was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Denise Casper in Massachusetts on January 31, according to the US Department of Justice.
A federal jury convicted the Crater on July 21 on four charges of wire fraud, three counts of unauthorized monetary transactions, and one count of operating an unregistered money-transfer company.
Crater launched My Big Coin in 2013 and falsely promoted it as a cryptocurrency payment service, enticing victims between 2014 and 2017.
Crater stated that the coins on My Big Coin were fully working cryptocurrencies backed by gold and that the site was affiliated with Mastercard.
Crater also promoted “My Big Coin Exchange,” which described itself as a cryptocurrency exchange where coins could be exchanged for US dollars and other fiat currencies.
Crater and his marketing staff spent a large chunk of the $7.6 million on a mansion, multiple automobiles, and nearly $1 million in antiques, artwork, and jewelry.
According to US Attorney Rachael Rollins, Crater’s actions caused severe trauma and financial hardship for his victims: “For nearly four years, 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 over $7.5 million.”
“His lies and deception caused genuine grief, sorrow, and difficulty in the lives of 55 individual victims and their families, who poured their money into bank accounts controlled by Mr. Crater and used it to fuel his opulent lifestyle,” she continued.
Crater maintained his innocence even after his conviction, alleging in an October 21 YouTube video that a My Big Coin credit card did exist and that an investor confessed under oath to having used the card many times.
Crater has been the subject of legal action since September 25, 2018, when now-former Judge Rya Zobel of the Massachusetts District Court denied a petition to dismiss a complaint brought by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
On February 19, 2019, the Department of Justice formally filed criminal charges against Crater.
After serving his 100-month sentence, Crater will be released on supervised release for the next three years.
