Crypto scammer gets 8 years for $40M eEmpowerCoin, ECoinPlus scams

A man at the center of a massive crypto Ponzi scheme will spend nearly eight years behind bars after a federal judge handed down a 97-month prison sentence in Brooklyn on Friday.

Dwayne Golden, 57, was convicted of wire fraud and money laundering for his role in orchestrating scams through three digital asset firms, EmpowerCoin, ECoinPlus, and Jet-Coin, which defrauded investors out of more than $40 million, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced.

Federal prosecutors said Golden and his partners promised guaranteed returns from crypto trading that never took place. Instead, funds were funneled into repaying earlier investors or lining the conspirators’ pockets, classic hallmarks of a Ponzi scheme.

The companies folded shortly after collecting investor deposits, leaving victims with heavy losses.

An excerpt of the filing the DOJ. Source: DOJRelated: Citibank accused of ignoring signs of $20M crypto romance scam

Fake crypto trading firms

The scam operated between April and August 2017. Golden, along with Gregory Aggesen and Marquis Egerton (also known as Mardy Eger) falsely marketed their firms as international crypto traders.

After their companies collapsed, Golden and his co-defendants attempted to obstruct both a Federal Trade Commission probe and a federal grand jury investigation, including by destroying evidence and providing false information.

“Golden and his co-defendants offered no legitimate services and none of the companies engaged in any actual trading in cryptocurrency as they claimed,” United States Attorney Joseph Nocella said, describing the scheme as an exploitation of investor excitement over new technology.

Golden was also ordered to forfeit approximately $2.46 million. Co-defendant William White received a 30-month sentence, while Aggesen and Egerton are awaiting sentencing.

FBI Assistant Director Christopher Raia called the conspiracy “an elaborate scheme rooted in deceit and false promises to swindle investors.” He stressed that Golden’s actions showed “an utter disregard for integrity” and praised the sentence as a warning to other would-be scammers.

The DOJ asked investors who suffered losses from the scheme to submit restitution claims through the FBI’s dedicated portal.

Related: Crypto ATM sting uncovers elderly widow who lost $282K in scam

Five plead guilty in $37M crypto scam

In a similar incident, earlier this month, five men pleaded guilty to orchestrating a $36.9 million crypto scam that defrauded Americans and funneled funds to a crypto scam center in Cambodia.

The defendants targeted victims through social media, messaging apps, and dating platforms, luring them with false promises of profitable crypto investments.

So far in 2025, over $2.1 billion has been stolen in crypto-related incidents, with most losses tied to wallet compromises and key mismanagement, CertiK co-founder Ronghui Gu said.

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