Rashawn Russell, a former investment banker, has been sentenced to 41 months in prison for his crypto-based offences. The May 31 sentencing was handed down by an Eastern New York District Court after the former Deutsche Bank executive pleaded guilty to wire fraud in a crypto scheme and another access device fraud scheme last September.
Rashawn Russell: Charges and Conviction
By the account of the Department of Justice (DoJ), Russell ran the fraudulent R3 Crypto Fund for nearly two years. Between November 2020 and August 2022, he deceived investors into believing that their money was safe, guaranteeing them of large payouts. However, in reality, he mostly used the said money to fund his lavish lifestyle. Other times, he also used some of the funds to repay other investors in a typical “robbing Peter to pay Paul” style, the DoJ says.
Also, Russell would sometimes lie to the faces of investors who request for their money that he has wired the same.
Interestingly, Russell was duly registered as a broker with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. However, while he bagged a total of 41 months in prison, his sentencing could have been up to 30 years for all of his crimes.
Separately, he obtained no less than 97 bank cards with at least 43 identities between September 2021 and June 2023. His plan was to use the cards to carry out fraudulent transactions.
Other than the prison term, Russell will also be paying $1.5 million to compensate the victims of his crypto scheme.
Not a Good Time for Bad Actors
It appears that authorities are having a field day catching and dealing accordingly with bad actors. Russell’s conviction is one of many similar ones in recent times where fraudsters have had to face swift and decisive justice.
On April 12, computer security engineer Shakeeb Ahmed was sentenced to three years in prison and another three years of supervised release in Southern New York District Court. He was convicted for his role in flash loan attacks on crypto exchanges in 2022.
Earlier this month, the DOJ also charged two MIT-educated brothers Anton Peraire-Bueno (24) and James Peraire-Bueno (28) with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering for manipulating the Ethereum blockchain.
On May 18, crypto personality Thomas John Sfraga pleaded guilty to a $1.3 million ponzi scheme. On the same day, two people were arrested on seven counts of money laundering and international money laundering involving funds from a pig-butchering crypto scam worth over $73 million.
