A crypto scammer has been sentenced to eight years in prison for the $40 million eEmpowerCoin and ECoinPlus schemes.
On Friday, a federal magistrate in Brooklyn imposed a 97-month prison sentence on a man who was the focal point of a substantial crypto Ponzi scheme. As a result, the individual will be incarcerated for nearly eight years.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced that Dwayne Golden, 57, has been convicted of wire fraud and money laundering for his involvement in the orchestration of schemes through three digital asset firms, EmpowerCoin, ECoinPlus, and Jet-Coin. These firms defrauded investors of over $40 million.
Federal prosecutors accused Golden and his associates of promising guaranteed returns from crypto trading, which never transpired. Instead, the funds were directed toward the repayment of previous investors or the enrichment of the conspirators, which are the traditional characteristics of a Ponzi scheme.
The companies collapsed shortly after gathering investor deposits, resulting in substantial losses for the victims.
Counterfeit cryptocurrency trading businesses
The fraud was conducted from April to August 2017. Golden, Gregory Aggesen, and Marquis Egerton (Mardy Eger) falsely advertised their firms as international crypto traders.
Golden and his co-defendants allegedly attempted to obstruct a Federal Trade Commission inquiry and a federal grand jury investigation after their companies collapsed. This included the destruction of evidence and the provision of false information.
“United States Attorney Joseph Nocella described the scheme as an exploitation of investor excitement over new technology,” he stated. “Golden and his co-defendants offered no legitimate services, and none of the companies engaged in any actual trading in cryptocurrency as they claimed.”
Additionally, Golden was required to forfeit approximately $2.46 million. A co-defendant, William White, was sentenced to 30 months in prison, while Aggesen and Egerton are awaiting their sentences.
FBI Assistant Director Christopher Raia described the conspiracy as “an intricate scheme founded on false promises and deception to defraud investors.” He emphasized that Golden’s actions demonstrated “an utter disregard for integrity” and commended the sentence as a cautionary tale for other potential fraudsters.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) requested that investors who experienced losses due to the scheme submit restitution claims through the FBI’s designated portal.
Five individuals have entered guilty pleas concerning a $37 million cryptocurrency fraud.
Five men pleaded guilty to orchestrating a $36.9 million crypto scam that defrauded Americans and funneled funds to a crypto scam center in Cambodia in a similar incident earlier this month.
The defendants lured victims with false assurances of profitable crypto investments through social media, messaging apps, and dating platforms.
Ronghui Gu, co-founder of CertiK, reported that over $2.1 billion had been plundered in crypto-related incidents thus far in 2025, with most of the losses attributed to wallet compromises and key mismanagement.
