The perpetrator of a crypto Ponzi scheme has been sentenced to five years in prison for defrauding investors.
Earlier this year, Travis Ford — the co-founder, CEO and head trader of crypto investment firm Wolf Capital Crypto Trading LLC — pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in connection with a scheme that raised US$9.4 million from 2,800 investors.
According to court filings, between January and August 2023, Ford allegedly solicited investments through the firm’s website and on social media, claiming to be a successful crypto trader who could deliver daily returns of between 1% and 2%.
However, as part of his guilty plea, Ford admitted that those claims were made to induce investors to participate in the scheme, and he didn’t believe that these returns were consistently achievable. Instead, investors’ funds were misappropriated and diverted.
He also admitted to making false statements to assuage investors’ concerns about the scheme, and to making false posts about its trading success on Wolf Capital’s Discord and Telegram pages to sustain the scheme.
Ford has now been sentenced in U.S. district court to 60 months in prison, ordered to pay over US$1 million in forfeiture, and to pay over US$170,000 in restitution.