Arizona man Vincent Anthony Mazzotta Jr. pleaded guilty to money laundering and conspiracy to obstruct justice on Monday for his role in orchestrating a $13 million crypto Ponzi scheme, a new press release from the Department of Justice (DOJ) states.
Arizona Man Pleads Guilty in $13M Crypto Fraud
According to the July 28 press release, the one-time Los Angeles resident and his co-defendant, David Saffron, fraudulently promised high-yield crypto-trading returns from investments in companies such as Mind Capital and Cloud9Capital, among others.
The duo even went so far as to create an organization called the Federal Crypto Reserve (FCR), a fake entity that solicited thousands of dollars from victims of the scam under the guise of “investigating” the crypto companies involved in the scheme.
Between FCR and the other fraudulent crypto investments, Saffron and Mazzotta defrauded victims out of $13 million.
“Vincent Mazzotta defrauded investors in a sophisticated cryptocurrency scheme and then doubled down by using a fake government entity to further victimize those who had entrusted him with their money,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
“Combating fraud in digital assets is critical to the Criminal Division’s efforts to vindicate victims’ interests and to keep bad actors out of the crypto markets,” he added.
Co-Conspirators Tried to Destroy Evidence After Arrest
Following Saffron’s arrest, Mazzotta and several other unnamed co-conspirators attempted to “conceal and destroy evidence” stemming from the crime, including an iPad and items in a personal safe.
“Mazzotta also conspired to falsify the records of his business, Runway Beauty Inc., to conceal his involvement in the investment fraud scheme from a federal grand jury,” the press release states.
Mazzotta, who is slated to be sentenced on December 15, is facing up to a total of 15 years behind bars for the digital asset scam.
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