Pennsylvania Man Sentenced to 8 Years for $40M Crypto Ponzi Scheme

The U.S. Department of Justice has sentenced Dwayne Golden, 57, of Pennsylvania to 97 months in prison for orchestrating a fraudulent crypto investment scheme that stole over $40 million from investors.

Golden operated several fake digital asset firms — including EmpowerCoin, ECoinPlus, and Jet-Coin — alongside co-conspirators Gregory Aggesen and Marquis Demacking Egerton. The schemes ran between April and August 2017, promising investors guaranteed returns through alleged cryptocurrency trading and overseas operations.

In reality, none of the companies conducted any legitimate crypto trading. Instead, the trio used new investor funds to pay off earlier participants or divert funds for personal use — a classic Ponzi structure, according to the DOJ.

“Dwayne Golden and his co-conspirators took advantage of investor interest in exciting new technologies to perpetrate a fraud scheme that is as old as time,” said U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella. “None of the companies offered real services. There was no actual trading activity behind the scenes — only deception.”

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The DOJ emphasized that the defendants misused the hype surrounding crypto innovation to exploit unsuspecting investors. Funds were channeled through shell accounts, and no meaningful business operations ever existed.

Golden’s sentencing is part of a broader crackdown on fraudulent crypto ventures that rely on exaggerated promises and non-transparent practices. Investigations into similar schemes remain ongoing.

Kosta Gushterov

Kosta has been working in the crypto industry for over 4 years. He strives to present different perspectives on a given topic and enjoys the sector for its transparency and dynamism. In his work, he focuses on balanced coverage of events and developments in the crypto space, providing information to his readers from a neutral perspective.