An Oklahoma resident landed five years behind bars for playing a leading role in a $9.4 million crypto investment scheme, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on November 14.
Oklahoma Man Gets Prison Time for Crypto Scheme
Travis Ford, the co-founder and CEO of Wolf Capital Crypto Trading LLC, was sentenced to 60 months in prison on Friday for the investment fraud conspiracy.
According to the Justice Department, Ford raised $9.4 million from 2,800 investors through “fraudulent conduct.”
In addition, Ford has been ordered to pay $1 million in forfeiture and $170,000 in restitution.
Travis Ford Faces the Music for Crypto Fraud
The Wolf Capital CEO originally pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud back in January of this year.
From January 2023 through August 2023, Ford “solicited investments” for the crypto scheme via his company’s website and other “social media and internet-based promotion activities.”
Ford fraudulently promised investors he could deliver returns of 1-2% per day, equivalent to 547% per year.
According to court documents, Ford made himself out to be a “sophisticated trader” as he “publicly stood behind Wolf Capital.”
In reality, court records indicate that Wolf Capital was not “obtaining such returns” but was actually “losing investor money,” despite the crypto company’s claims.
“Ford and his co-conspirators allegedly made such false promises to induce members of the public to invest money in the company,” the press release states.
“Ford then misappropriated and diverted investor funds to benefit himself and his co-conspirators, to the financial detriment of investors,” the document continues.
As part of his guilty plea, Ford ultimately admitted that he did not believe it was possible to achieve the amount of returns he purported.
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