Utilizing personal relationships, a former athlete who transitioned to crypto fraud orchestrated a Ponzi scheme disguised as a mining venture, capitalizing on the trust within close-knit communities.
A former semi-professional rugby player from Seattle has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for managing a $900,000 cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 40 investors throughout the United States.
In U.S. District Court in Seattle on Wednesday, Shane Donovan Moore, 37, was sentenced for wire fraud after entering a guilty plea.
Moore’s sentencing resulted from an FBI investigation into his company, Quantum Donovan LLC, which Moore maintained was a legitimate cryptocurrency mining operation. The organization was never legitimate, according to the prosecution.
Crypto Ponzi Scheme Leaves Friends, Teammates Betrayed as Judge Sentences Former Athlete
Moore presented the venture to Connecticut, New Jersey, Utah, Washington, and Oregon investors between January 2021 and October 2022. Many were acquaintances, former teammates, and colleagues from his rugby career.
Moore stated that the funds would be allocated to acquiring and operating cryptocurrency mining machines to provide investors with a daily return of 1% from the alleged proceeds.
However, the prosecutors insist that they never acquired any such equipment. Moore allocated the funds to personal expenditures, such as travel, luxury goods, electronics, clothing, and a deposit on a high-end apartment.
Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller stated, “Mr. Moore employed the novelty of cryptocurrency to perpetrate an age-old fraud—a Ponzi scheme.” “He left behind a trail of shattered relationships.”
Additionally, he allocated some funds to acquire cryptocurrency, not for mining, but to distribute modest sums to early investors. The prosecution claims that he did this to create a false impression of the operation’s functioning.
Moore’s narrative successfully convinced some initial investors and actively urged their friends and family to join. The revelation of the truth only intensified the consequences.
According to prosecutors, the actual loss to investors was just over $387,000, even though Moore raised over $900,000. This figure included some early payments.
U.S. District Judge Tana Lin recognized Moore’s troubled personal history, which included trauma, during the sentencing hearing; however, she underscored that his decisions resulted in genuine injury.
In addition to financial losses, the judge stated that Moore’s actions caused “emotional and psychological damage” to his victims. Moore will be sentenced to 30 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. It is anticipated that a restitution order will be issued.
FBI Warns of Soaring Crypto Scams as Experts Blame User Errors for Billions Lost
In 2024, fraud increased in tandem with the expansion of cryptocurrencies into the financial mainstream. The FBI reported over $9.3 billion in crypto-related losses, a 66% increase from the $5.6 billion documented in 2023.
According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), over 149,000 complaints were submitted last year, with investment schemes accounting for over 50% of the total cryptocurrency losses.
More than 4,300 victims received information from the Bureau, which prevented an estimated $285 million in additional losses. In a concerning statistic, 42 individuals were referred to FBI victim specialists for suicide intervention in connection with crypto fraud.
The fraud surge has continued into 2025. According to Chainalysis’ Mid-Year Crypto Crime Report, thieves have stolen $2.17 billion in cryptocurrency, surpassing the total for 2024.
In an interview with CryptoNews, Crystal CEO Navin Gupta asserted that changing user behavior could prevent most fraud. “He stated that it is possible to prevent eighty percent of scams by assuming that every unsolicited message is a potential attack.”
Gupta identified several prevalent patterns, including overconfidence in polished dApps, sharing private keys in insecure environments, and using inadequate security controls such as single-signature approvals. He clarified that human error typically opens the door, and poor architecture further widens it.
He urged users to adopt a mindset of “deliberate doubt,” especially when faced with secrecy, urgency, or flattery. “Your money does not have to move as quickly as the crypto space,” he stated. “Investing a few extra minutes to confirm a request could potentially safeguard all the work you have accomplished.”
