A former executive of German financial giant Deutsche Bank has been given a 30-year prison sentence for his role in a crypto fraud scheme.
In a new press release, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) says that ex-investment banker and registered broker Rashawn Russell has pleaded guilty to charges of committing crypto fraud and illegally obtaining credit card information.
Previous lawsuits show that between November 2020 and August 2022, Russell defrauded 29 investors using his R3 crypto fund by promising to invest their money in digital assets that would give them big returns. However, Russell mismanaged their money, the DOJ says.
According to the government, Russell used investor funds to gamble, pay his personal expenses and repay other investors. If convicted, Russell faces up to 30 years behind bars and must pay the victims $1.5 million in restitution as part of his plea deal.
As stated by United States Attorney Breon Peace in the press release:
“Russell took advantage of investor interest in cryptocurrency markets to perpetrate a scheme to defraud customers who trusted him. The swift conviction in this case underscores this Office’s commitment to holding bad actors in digital asset markets accountable.”
In a separate fraud case, from September 2021 to June 2023, Russell was found to have fraudulently obtained the information of more than fifteen credit cards and other access devices registered to third parties as a means to conduct unauthorized transactions.
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