Rashawn Russell, a former investment banker, received a prison sentence of 41 months on Thursday for orchestrating a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme that resulted in $1.5 million in losses for investors. From November 2020 to August 2022, Russell cunningly deceived multiple victims by offering them lucrative returns on their cryptocurrency investments, only to divert their funds for personal use, gambling, and repaying other investors. He consistently failed to return the principal investments and the promised profits, and deceitfully claimed to have wired money back to certain victims upon their request. Furthermore, in addition to the cryptocurrency fraud, Russell engaged in an illicit access device scheme between September 2021 and June 2023, unlawfully obtaining numerous credit and identification cards for unauthorized transactions. United States District Judge Hector Gonzalez, presiding over the case, has demanded that Russell make restitution totaling over $1.5 million.
