Boom! 97 Months Behind Bars for Crypto Conman in $40M Ponzi Scheme

Dwayne Golden and Crew's Shady Crypto Empire Crumbles

Hold onto your hats, folks! A slick 57-year-old named Dwayne Golden just got slammed with a hefty 97-month prison sentence for swindling investors out of a whopping $40 million through a crypto Ponzi scheme. The hammer came down on June 27, courtesy of U.S. District Judge William F. Kuntz II in Brooklyn's federal court. Golden had already thrown in the towel, pleading guilty back in September 2024 to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.

Golden wasn't flying solo on this scam. He teamed up with Gregory Aggesen, Marquis Egerton (aka "Mardy Eger"), and William White to run three shady digital asset outfits—EmpowerCoin, ECoinPlus, and Jet-Coin. These guys promised the moon with guaranteed returns from overseas crypto trading, but it was all smoke and mirrors. They were straight-up Ponzi schemes, using fresh cash from new investors to pay off the old ones or line their own pockets.

This wild ride lasted from April to August 2017, but when the music stopped, the platforms shut down and the crew vanished with the loot, leaving investors high and dry.

But wait, there's more! Golden and his gang tried to cover their tracks by trashing evidence and feeding the feds a bunch of BS. From 2017 to 2022, they allegedly worked together to throw a wrench in a Federal Trade Commission probe and a federal grand jury investigation. White even stepped up to the plate, spewing lies in response to official subpoenas on behalf of Aggesen.

Golden's now got to cough up $2.46 million, and more restitution is on the way. White's already doing time, sentenced to 30 months, while Aggesen and Egerton are still waiting to hear their fate.

If you got burned by these crooks, the FBI's got your back. They're urging victims to file restitution claims as part of the ongoing recovery effort.

Golden's sentencing is just the tip of the iceberg. The DOJ's been on a tear this June, cracking down on crypto crimes left and right. Earlier this month, they moved to seize over $225 million in crypto tied to those nasty pig butchering scams.

And that's not all! In another case, the DOJ went after over $7.7 million in crypto linked to North Korean operatives. Just days later, they slapped charges on a Russian national and the head of a crypto payments firm for running a $500 million money laundering operation.

U.S. officials are making it crystal clear: they're not messing around when it comes to crypto-related financial crimes. The heat's on, and it's only going to get hotter.

The FBI and DOJ are dead set on taking down these fraudsters and getting the stolen dough back to victims. They're teaming up with international partners and using cutting-edge blockchain tracing tech to get the job done.