A US court has sentenced a man to five years in prison for his leading role in a $9.4 million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme. In addition to the jail term, Travis Ford, CEO of Wolf Capital Trading LLC, must pay over $1 million in forfeiture and over $170,000 in restitution. This sentence for $9.4 million crypto fraud aims to compensate the 2,800 victims.
Travis Ford, 36, of Glenpool, Oklahoma, operated Wolf Capital Trading LLC. Through his website and online promotions, Ford solicited investments in 2023. He portrayed himself as an experienced trader, promising daily returns of 1% to 2% to about 2,800 investors. However, prosecutors proved that Ford diverted and misappropriated funds for personal use and to support his co-conspirators.
Is This Sentence Enough to Deter the Growing Wave of Crypto Frauds?
In January, Ford pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. In his plea, he admitted knowing that the investment returns he advertised could not be consistently delivered. His case is one of several cryptocurrency-related Ponzi schemes that have come to light in recent months.
The fight against crypto fraud has intensified globally. In Thailand, authorities arrested Liang Ai-Bing for the FINTOCH scheme, which allegedly stole over $31 million from nearly 100 investors. In New York, Eddy Alexandre of EminiFX was ordered to repay $228 million for a fraudulent AI platform. Meanwhile, in Detroit, the company RealT was sued for selling tokenized shares of homes it never owned.
Ford’s conviction underscores a tougher stance by authorities. However, the persistent wave of cases demonstrates that crypto fraud is spreading faster than law enforcement can keep up. The sentence for $9.4 million crypto fraud is one step, but the global challenge of regulation and fraud prevention remains enormous.
