Crypto Ponzi Scheme Operator Sentenced to 97 Months in Prison

Dwayne Golden, the mastermind behind a $40 million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme, has been sentenced to 97 months in federal prison. The Brooklyn court found Golden guilty of defrauding investors through three sham companies—EmpowerCoin, ECoinPlus, and Jet-Coin—which promised guaranteed returns from fictitious digital asset trading operations.

Golden's scheme, which ran from 2017 to 2022, relied on classic Ponzi tactics: using new investor funds to pay off earlier participants while pocketing the rest. The operation collapsed when regulators uncovered the fraud, revealing no actual trading or technological infrastructure behind the ventures.

The court ordered the forfeiture of $2.46 million in illicit gains, though victim restitution remains pending. Golden and his co-conspirators—Gregory Aggesen, William White, and Marquis Egerton—further compounded their legal troubles by obstructing justice, destroying evidence, and lying under oath during investigations.